Edward and local Councillor David Chubb have visited St Peter's Church in Wymondham to meet the team of volunteers who look after the church, and to give their full support to the plans by the volunteers to raise funds to help preserve and restore this historic and much-loved church.
Like many of our historic parish churches in local villages and towns, St Peter's in Wymondham is in need of extensive repairs to its stonework to keep it safe and able to continue to serve as a focal point for the community for many decades and centuries to come, but such specialist restoration comes with a big price tag, and the volunteers at the church are busy working on ways to secure the funds needed. Equally important as securing funding is the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, run by the government.
The grants from the Scheme help cover the cost of VAT on repairs/ works to Listed places of worship, and has benefitted thousands of churches across the country, including a number in our own communities in Melton and Syston already, but the Government has not committed to the future of the scheme beyond next spring. By covering the VAT on repairs to these buildings it helps enable repairs to be afforded to these buildings, which are not only historically important, but also often at the heart of small rural communities, in circumstances where otherwise those repairs may have proved unaffordable, and Edward is calling on the Government to commit to extending the scheme for a multi-year period to enable volunteers at churches like St Peter's in Wymondham to plan repairs and fundraising with greater certainty.
Edward said: “It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet the fantastic volunteers at St Peter's Church in Wymondham, and to be shown this beautiful and historic church by them. They do an amazing job, for this wonderful building, and for their local community at whose heart this building has been for centuries. Both David and I are fully committed to doing all we can to help support their fundraising efforts in the months ahead, and I look forward to visiting again soon.
There are many churches in the Melton and Syston constituency that will need repairs in the coming months and years. For volunteers and communities across our area working hard to raise the funds to achieve this, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme is a vital help. I am calling on the Government to commit to continuing the scheme beyond spring 2026, and to doing so on a multi-year basis, to help preserve for many decades to come these amazing churches that are such an important part of our heritage and community life.”
