All Saints Church in Helmsley awarded £138,000 by National Lottery Heritage Fund

Described as a place of ‘friendship and support’ by the local community, the church has been awarded just over £138k to develop its plans to deliver a programme of traditional skills development and a safe and sustainable future for the historic building and the heritage it holds.

Richard Hiscocks, member of All Saints Parochial Church Council in Helmsley, said: “We are thrilled by the award from The National Lottery Heritage Fund that will allow us to create a detailed plan to restore and preserve our amazing but fragile heritage and to help develop traditional skills locally, and extremely grateful to everyone that supports the National Lottery.”

The church, which starts and ends the new Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail, could be awarded a delivery grant of £1,527,355 should it be successful at the development phase.

The Reverend Melanie Burnside said: “We are thrilled to be given this grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to allow us to create detailed plans to restore and preserve the unique and amazing heritage in our lovely church, and especially to think of new ways to widen the range of local people and visitors who can engage with this heritage in new and innovative ways.

“We are grateful to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and to everyone who supports the lottery."

Since 1994, The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded over £1billion to more than 8,200 places of worship projects, enabling vital restoration and conservation of some of the UK’s oldest and most cherished buildings, including facilitating the removal of many from the UK’s ‘At Risk’ registers.

In September 2024, the Heritage Fund announced a new three-year initiative for places of worship, to be delivered as part of the Heritage Fund’s ten-year strategy, Heritage 2033.

It is challenging the heritage sector and institutional carers of places of worship to devise and deliver strategic projects at a national and regional level to address sector-wide issues and funding gaps.

These strategic projects will be backed by an additional funding pot of at least £15million and is open for applications.

Around a further £85million is expected to be awarded through National Lottery Grants for Heritage grants programme over the next three years.

Any place of worship in the UK, of any religion or denomination, is encouraged to apply.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Places of worship are some of the UK’s most cherished historic buildings and many play a key role as a gateway to our heritage and communities. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, these fantastic projects will take vital steps towards securing a brighter and more sustainable future for places of worship and reimagine how they can connect with and benefit their communities.

“This year the Heritage Fund marked 30 years of National Lottery funding. This announcement is a fantastic way to end what has been an incredible year of celebration.

“We are delighted to invest in these places of worship, ensuring that their heritage will be valued, cared for, and sustained, for everyone, now and in the future.”