PCC News

Church lavatory and parking project – started on time but now the inevitable delay for electrical services. So what next? Out with the Quinquennial Report… The next inspection is due in May 2019 and there are still five stained glass windows on the “urgent” list. The glazier’s report is on file, the glass will crack further if remedial work is not carried out soon and so some of the issues must be addressed before the architect’s next visit.

Grant Finder to the rescue! It came up trumps when looking for funding for the church development project, so Google “Diocese of Norwich Grant Finder” and the site pops up. I am already registered as a user, a straightforward process as I remember, and I log in to start my search for much needed funding.

First, I identified my organisation in the drop down menu: there was no mention of church and so I clicked on registered charity and voluntary and community organisation. Next was our area of work: for this particular project I chose religion and heritage. The focus of the project was Heritage but with some creative thinking I might find ways of adding community which would help. And then it prompted what do I want to fund? So I ticked the box showing Costs with maintaining buildings. I entered Church Stained Glass Windows under Keyword, clicked on Search and up came a promising list of 44 grant awarding bodies. But I couldn’t cope with 44 – time is too short! So I used the filter to narrow down the field and then clicked on the links of any suitable remaining funds to check whether or not our project was eligible. In this case there were five that I will follow up.

Will the hour or so I have spent on the computer result in restored windows? You will have to come to St. Andrew’s, Great Ryburgh in a year’s time and have a look. But thanks to Grant Finder, the first bit was easy!