An update on the Raise the Roof campaign at St Paul’s Church, from Jilly Cosgrove of Barques, outlining progress so far, the challenges ahead, and the next steps needed to protect the building and secure its future.
2026 has to be the year that St Paul’s Church gets its new roof!
After two years of fundraising within the community we have reached over £200,000 which is a staggering achievement. This figure has been reached through donations from businesses, individuals, grant applications and many fundraising initiatives from some very generous businesses and people throughout the Jewellery Quarter.
Although one may think fundraising has stalled, this is far from the case. The money raised so far has given us the platform to be able to apply for significant grant funding from various organisations, and it is the outcome of these applications which will take us towards the endgame, which we hope to share with you very soon. This will then allow us to reinvigorate our campaign within the community to get us to the final figure needed to allow work to proceed this year.
In the meantime, we continue to receive funds from local businesses and through events like our Summer Fete – Saturday 15th August and people fundraising such as Reverend Tomlinson who will be cycling 200 miles from Whitley Bay to Ayr ‘Chasing the Sun’ on 20th June! (Fundraising link – https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/david-tomlinson-chasing-the-sun) and David & Jane Kidney, who are sailing in the famous Round the Island Race, Isle of Wight on the 11th July having never sailed before – https://www.zeffy.com/en-GB/donation-form/sailing-for-st-pauls-racing-for-the-jq .
However, we still need your support so please contribute if you can by paying into: The Society of Friends of St Pauls Church, Sort code 20-07-89 and Account Number 20835099 or by visiting https://stpaulsjq.church/raise-the-roof.
I think it’s fair to say that we are still in danger of this soon to be 250 year old church becoming derelict if we don’t replace the roof this year, so we must work together as a community to make sure that this doesn’t happen. After all, where will all the people who sit in the grounds of St Paul’s Square go when the church becomes unsafe for people to walk past it?!
With each downpour, water seeps into the roof space, and the risk of catastrophic water damage increases. This means that replacing the roof is urgent. There is no time to waste. Let’s, individually, do what we can, and work together to make it happen, to ensure the church and its grounds can remain a place for us all to enjoy.
