‘Exploring All Saints’ project receives National Lottery funding
A project to tell the stories of a Cambridge church in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust has received £56,200 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), it has been announced.
Built in 1864, All Saints’ Church on Jesus Lane in Cambridge is a triumph of Victorian art and design. Light gleams through stained-glass windows, designed by leading Arts and Crafts artists, including William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and Ford Madox Brown. What's more, almost every surface has painted, stencilled or gilded decoration. Pomegranates burst with seeds and flowers run riot over the walls.
The new ‘Exploring All Saints’ project will be based at the church and will work to attract visitors as part of a national initiative to encourage visitors to ‘Discover’ a network of wonderful historic churches across England. The main focus is to develop a rich and welcoming visitor experience that demonstrates that historic churches are great places for everyone to visit and enables audiences to enjoy these buildings in new ways. This will include imaginative exhibitions and activities that reflect the skills and influences of the Victorian era. We will be working with our fantastic volunteers to help open the church.
Peter Aiers, Director of The Churches Conservation Trust in the South East said: “We’re delighted with the news that we’ve received this grant from The Heritage Lottery Fund. All Saints’ is such a wonderful building and this project will enable us to share it with a wider audience. We’ve had a dream to tell the stories of All Saints’ for a long time and now that dream will become a reality!”
Robyn Llewellyn, Head of Heritage Lottery Fund in the East of England, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for local people and visitors to experience the beautiful Arts and Crafts designs of All Saints Church, Cambridge. Thanks to National Lottery players this project will open up the church to new audiences, as well as offering volunteers the chance to learn new skills”.
We are also looking for volunteers to become involved with different parts of the project as well as other roles at the church such as stewarding, events organising, fundraising and practical roles such as cleaning and gardening. We will be offering training to support the stewarding roles
We have arranged two open days that are an opportunity to come and see the church and find out how you could get involved with the project. These are on Saturday 28th February and Friday 18th March. Drop in between 11am and 5pm for a cup of tea and a chat!
To find out more about the project, please contact: 01223 324442 / [email protected]