The eight months since the ‘Development Grant’ from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF previously HLF) was awarded to prepare our application for the grant to restore the dome and main sanctuary have flown by! NLHF requires us to engage our wider community with our church.  We must have evidence of a need for  proposed activities and be able to assess the outcome to prove they meet that need.  So this year has been a time for piloting our ideas and testing them to see if they meet the NLHF criteria. It has enabled us to see what has and has not worked and to make the necessary changes. The public were consulted via our survey over the winter (over 500 replies).  The following activities were then selected for piloting.

As part of the grant application we must raise some funds ourselves (Match funding)  This is overseen by the ‘Friends of the Shrine’ group (which you are all welcome to join!).  Organized so far:  Summer Fair 29^th June, Sponsored Walk 11^th August (in conjunction with St John’s Hospice) and the 200+ Club. 

We also have been busy collecting art work for a fundraising calendar which we hope will be on sale by September 2019.  Art work will also be displayed in the Williamson Art Gallery throughout  November 2019 and we will have a recital at the Williamson on 3^rd November 2019 – more details to follow. 

As you can see there has been a huge amount of work going on, including writing draft policies which all volunteers will need to follow. These are available via Anne and awaiting final approval.

A heartfelt thank you to all who have volunteered their time and talents so far.  Please keep sending in your volunteer hours to Project Manager Anne –  . If you love the Dome and wish to see it restored, please see what  you can get involved in.  Welcome aboard! 

Saint Peter pray for us! Saint Paul pray for us! Saint Philomena pray for us!