Forty-five historic churches and chapels in the U.K. are receiving grants from the National Churches Trust after being financially hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The grant money is hoped to fund needed repairs, maintenance, and the installation of community facilities across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
"The U.K.'s historic churches and chapels are a vital part of our national heritage. During the coronavirus pandemic churches have done so much to help vulnerable local people and boost morale," Huw Edwards, BBC broadcaster and vice president of The National Churches Trust said.
The National Churches Trust website offers four types of grants and has awarded 145 grants totaling more than 1 million pounds. One of the grants is Cornerstone Grants that fund essential structural repair projects and install kitchens and toilets.
"Many churches need to carry out urgent repairs and install modern facilities to ensure their buildings can continue to be used well into the future. But the cost of this work is often far beyond what most congregations can pay for themselves and many are facing funding shortages because of the coronavirus lockdown."
St. Mary's Church in Dallinghoo which dates all the way back to the 14th century is one of the churches receiving grant funding. The grant is expected to help maintain the historic building with extensive repairs to the brickwork, windows of the church, ceilings, pew platforms in the church's interior, and more according to the East Anglican Daily Times.
"Key members of our community have been fundraising for years to keep our church fabric sound," Charlotte Sullivan, churchwarden at St Mary's, told the news outlet.
Another chapel built in 1811 called the Edale Methodist Chapel in Barber Booth is also receiving funding, specifically a Cornerstone Grant, from the National Churches Trust.
Kate Burnett, the renovation coordinator at the church expressed the desperate conditions of the chapel in a statement, "We badly need to get basic facilities - water, heating, toilet and kitchen installed, so that we can bring this lovely atmospheric chapel into wider community use."
