Bidding for a new roof at Holy Cross, Caston
Holy Cross is a rural church situated in the Breckland Deanery.

Our HLF bid journey started with the dreaded quinquennial inspection by the architect who said we needed a new thatched roof. A thatcher confirmed this. The PCC then approached three architects to quote for managing the project. At the same time the PCC set up a sub-committee to manage the bid process.
After meeting the architect, a plan of action was agreed and they recommended approaching the HLF because their grant allowed for improvements such as a disabled access. We, with the assistance of the architect, completed the paperwork and explained what improvements we would like to have.
We also contacted people who had been through the process to learn from their experience. This focused our minds and assisted in planning the number and type of activities, which would satisfy HLF and our community.
We then set up fortnightly meetings to work on different aspects of the project and update our timescales. We have also sought to obtain ‘budget’ quotations to assist us on what is feasible. Above all, we adopted perseverance realising that it will take time.
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