DELIGHTED worshippers are celebrating after their church was awarded £120,600 towards a major refurbishment.

The scaffolding up around St George's Church, Portsea

The historic St George’s Church in Portsea was awarded the cash by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) as part of its drive to serve the local community better.

Scaffolding went up around the church over the summer, as repairs to its roof, stonework and windows began. The work started in July and was expected to take 15 weeks.

The £167,000 project also includes refurbishing the toilets, installing a historic time-line along the south wall to help tell the church’s history, new leaflets for adults and children and a display cabinet for some of the tools used by shipwrights when they built the church in 1753.

It will be the first step towards a vision for the building to be used by local community groups throughout the year. 

Worshippers hope a second phase will see new heating installed in the church and halls, as well as the complete refurbishment of the halls at the back of the church. At the moment, lack of heating means that community activities can’t continue in the winter.

The award comes after the church was given an initial £22,800 by HLF last year to develop the project. It also comes on top of a £10,000 grant from the National Churches Trust towards the project.

The vicar, the Rev Belinda Davies, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received a second round funding award from HLF, without whom these essential repairs to St George’s Church would have been impossible to carry out at this time.

“We are taking the opportunity given to us by funding to open up access from the church to refurbished toilets, which will enhance not only the appearance of the church, but also the quality of experience for those who use it.

“Phase 1 of the project has taken about five years’ work. Now that we can see a physical change to the building and our plans coming to fruition, I hope we may be encouraged and experienced enough to tackle the challenge of installing an effective and efficient heating system in the church.

“This is going to involve more fundraising, but as an important building in this community, and with hopes of seeing the church being used by more people, I am confident we can rise to the challenge of continuing to improve the facilities.”