St George the Martyr gets £12k for restoration and social action

The parish has received a £10,000 grant to help fund urgent repairs to stonework and gutters and to improve the entrance area to create space for a community cafe. The church also receives £2,000 for a new social action project to help local people.

"I'm delighted that St George the Martyr, Southwark is to be saved for the future with the help of a £10,000 National Churches Trust Repair Grant," said broadcaster Huw Edwards, who is also vice-president of the National Churches Trust.

"This will ensure that this vitally important church, bursting with history in an extremely busy and fast changing part of London, remains in good repair and at the service of local people."

Repairs at roof level will stop water from coming in so that the church can be kept open for visitors and new programmes. The repairs to the roof level will also help to minimise any deterioration of internal features of this historic building.

Priest-in-charge Fr Jonathan Sedgwick said: "Over the centuries St George the Martyr has undergone great change and development, just like the environment surrounding it.

"In response to this growth and change, St George the Martyr continues to work in supporting those in the community offering a central point to meet and grow together and we are excited that the National Churches Trust supports our vision for the part a renewed St George's can play in this community.

"We look forward to seeing this project develop and become a reality."

The church is currently seeking a faculty (the ecclesiastical equivalent of planning permission) for the restoration works.

It is planned that while the works are carried out, the building will be wrapped in a scaffolding shroud which will include illuminated advertising panels to help raise further funds for the works.

A decade has passed since the last major works at St George's, when £3.6 million was spent to stabilise and protect the building, including the creation of new community spaces in the crypt.