National Churches Trust supports Hankelow Chapel

Great news received during December 2015 for Hankelow chapel in the form of another grant towards our major refurbishment project, this time from the National Churches Trust, which has the aim of keeping churches, chapels and meeting houses alive.

Earlier in December, Luke Marsh of the National Churches Trust confirmed that the Trust is delighted to support Hankelow Methodist Church with a £15,000 grant, specifically towards the costs of the new and enlarged kitchen and a new disabled toilet as part of the chapel's major refurbishment project.

This means that we can now proceed to complete the whole of the project which started on site at the end of November 2015 with the demolition of the old boiler house and chimney. We can now undertake full cavity wall insulation and also provide additional comfortable seating and extra equipment to aid the increased use of the church building by local organisations and groups as well as by the three local parish councils.

Along with grants from Cheshire East Council, WREN, the Cheshire South Methodist Circuit and District, Hankelow Parish Council and the Bernard Sunley Foundation plus local generous donations and fundraising this means we have now raised a total sum of £106,000. We aim to reopen the chapel during March 2016. Celebration events are being planned in the run up to Easter for everyone to come and see our newly refurbished facilities.

The National Churches Trust

The Trust was founded in 1953 as the Historic Churches Preservation Trust. It is a national, independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting and supporting church buildings of historic, architectural, and community value across the United Kingdom.

Supported by voluntary contributions, and which receives no financial support from government, the National Churches Trust has allocated grants and loans – worth over £85 million in today's prices – to help repair and modernise Christian places of worship. Twelve thousand grants and loans have ensured the good repair of churches, chapels, and meeting houses of many Christian denominations, and funded modern facilities to ensure that they can serve the needs of local communities.

The National Churches Trust is committed to continuing to help more churches remain in good repair for worship, of benefit to local people, and of interest to visitors exploring their fascinating art, architecture, and history.

The National Churches Trust invites people to help secure the future of the United Kingdom's places of worship by becoming a Friend of the National Churches Trust. Thanks to the help of our Friends, we have been able to fund urgent repairs to thousands of churches across the UK. Every new Friend who joins can help us to do even more.

Friends enjoy a wide range of benefits, including special events (we recently hosted an evening with Michael Palin), regular newsletters and a range of exclusive offers including discounted home insurance.

New Friends receive a free copy of The Church Triumphant, valued at over £40, a beautiful limited edition hardback book containing charming watercolour paintings of churches and chapels by the celebrated artist Bob Moody.

Click here for more information.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.