We are delighted to announce that the application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund has been a success! A grant of £218,500 will enable an exciting heritage project to carry out essential restoration and create an accessible area for public use. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on the East end of the church, which faces Wellington Road North (A6) with full restoration of the beautiful stained glass east window, walls, entrances, and steps.
Inside, construction of a screen partition will create a comfortable area for both congregation and community, whilst allowing everyone to see the rest of the original Victorian interior as restoration continues. Work will start in the next few weeks, and end with a celebratory event, hopefully around November – to be announced later in the year.
We are also pleased to announce match funding of £10,000 from the Garfield Weston Foundation, and £7,000 from AllChurches Trust, to help the project.
Research into the history of the building will provide new and interesting facts for visitors with the creation of a display, small guide book and website to share the findings.
We are keen to hear from anyone who has memories/old photographs of Wycliffe or the associated school, and anyone who would be interested in becoming a volunteer once the work is completed.
Support from the local community has been fantastic, particularly the Love Heaton Norris Group, Asda Reddish and Stockport, AgeUK Stockport, Paramount Boxing Club and Stockport Heritage Trust – we look forward to working further with these, and many more local groups. For more information and/or to join our mailing list, please contact us.
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