CCT Chairman and Trustees enjoy visits to Suffolk and Norfolk churches

24 May 2013

Loyd Grossman, Chairman of The Churches Conservation Trust, together with the Board of Trustees, visited nine of the Trust's historic churches in the South East of England on May 22 and 23 2013.

Loyd and the Trustees met local Friends groups and volunteers throughout Norfolk and Suffolk who have been working tirelessly to support churches in the CCT estate in order to bring them back into the heart of their communities.

Included in the tour was St Nicholas’ Chapel, Kings Lynn, which has just received £2.3 million from The Heritage Lottery Fund for continued conservation and repair works, where the Trustees met with the Friends of St Nicolas Chapel (FSNC) in order to congratulate them on the success of the campaign and to discuss future plans. Loyd Grossman presented a certificate to Brian Chase, Chair of the Friends of St Nicholas Chapel, to thank them for their support and help in keeping the doors of the Chapel open.                       

Another highlight of the tour was a dinner at the church of St Mary at the Quay in Ipswich, sponsored by E-bound AVX. This project will see the medieval church of St Mary opened for the whole community as a Heritage Wellbeing Centre. The Churches Conservation Trust is delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has invested in this innovative project in partnership with Suffolk Mind.

 Peter Aiers, Director of the Churches Conservation Trust South East said,

 “Thanks to the generous support of E-Bound AVX we can really begin to see how St Mary at Quay will be used in the future. This dinner not only shows the potential of the space for events but also celebrates the great achievement of the partnership between CCT and Suffolk Mind. We shall be raising a toast to all who have supported us in building the funding package for this most remarkable project, especially the HLF, English Heritage and Kempens Landschap from Belgium.