Welcome for Taylor Review on Church sustainability
2 min read
The National Churches Trust has welcomed the publication by the Department for Digital, Culture Media & Sport which has been examining the sustainability of English Churches and Cathedrals.
Claire Walker, Chief Executive of the National Churches Trust said:
"I welcome the publication of the Taylor Review on the sustainability of English churches and cathedrals. Bernard Taylor and his team are to be congratulated on producing a thorough and much needed examination of how best to ensure the future of these buildings which define our towns, cities and villages."
"The Church of England’s 16,000 parish church buildings are centres of worship, mission and community life. One third of these are Grade I listed and as such they form a vital part of England’s built heritage."
"The Taylor Review puts forward sensible and achievable recommendations to help create a sustainable future for these buildings. These include finding ways to ensure that more church buildings can be opened up for wider community use and helping to provide more strategic oversight of maintenance and repair works."
"Funding for the repair and maintenance of church buildings relies on a partnership between Government, statutory heritage organisations, religious denominations, local communities and charities such as the National Churches Trust. We therefore welcome the Review’s acknowledgement that government investment in the maintenance of the architectural heritage of the Church of England will still be required in the future. The National Churches Trust will work closely with our partners in the church heritage sector to help in the implementation of the review’s key recommendations and in particular in the testing of pilot programmes before they can be rolled out nationally."
"In addition, over the coming years with the help of our Friends and supporters, our grants schemes will continue to help fund essential repairs and the introduction of community facilities. Our new MaintenanceBooker service, which will be rolled out throughout England in 2018, will make it easier for churches to care for their buildings. We will also expand our ExploreChurches website, which will make it easier for people to visit churches and discover their history and heritage."
More details: https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/news/taylor-review-sustainability-english-churches-and-cathedrals-has-been-published
