Building potential

Exterior of St Paul's Old Ford, Bow

Picture: Marcus Perkins

                           Art for art's sake at St Paul's Old Ford, Bow                           

Church buildings hold enormous potential as catalysts for neighbourhood regeneration, but they need the support of a wider network of partners to unlock their possibilities and sustain them for the future. That’s the view of a ‘green paper’, Building faith in our future, produced by The Church’s Church Heritage Forum with sponsorship from the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, and launched by the Bishop of London.

The report urges national, regional and local bodies to pay special attention to the importance of places of worship in their funding and planning decisions. It says that the cost of doubling the grants from public funds – from £10m to £20m in English Heritage grants – would cost no more than 20p per head of population per year. And it points to other European countries such as Norway and Finland which provide far more state assistance to church repair. The achievements of volunteers in maintaining their church buildings are impressive – but they need further help.

Paula Griffiths, Director of the Church of England’s Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, pointed to the landmark effect of churches in England – 16,000 buildings “literally pointing upwards”. She asked: “What would a large firm give for advertising on that scale?”

Vital role

They play a vital role in the UK’s physical and spiritual landscape, demonstrated by a 2003 survey which showed that more than eight out of 10 adults in the UK had visited a church or place of worship in the previous year, and that most were happy to see local churches used for activities other than worship.

The dramatic conversion of St Paul’s church in Old Ford, East London is a case in point. When the Rev Phillipa Boardman was appointed as vicar no-one could worship in the Grade II listed building because it was unsafe. “A huge groundswell of local people wanted to see this much-loved building saved at a time when so much of the East End heritage building had been cleared during the war,” she recalls.

Hiring a project worker, Phillipa Boardman set about identifying local needs, which were focussed around health and leisure, and then built an ambitious network of partners, including 15 different funders (both public and private finance) as well as a range of voluntary agencies who could help deliver an integrated programme of services. At the heart of the ambitious development was an enthusiastic congregation, keen to re-inhabit the church at the centre of their parish.

In March 2003 the £3.5 million scheme took off. Architects Matthew Lloyd and partners designed an eye-catching and innovative pod, known affectionately as ‘the Ark’ to house an art gallery and also developed a health and fitness centre in the roof of the 19th century building.

The scheme was completed in May 2004. It is early days but there is already a happy mix of worship, exercise and art serving a variety of local physical and spiritual needs, and soon a café which will not only serve healthy food, but provide employment and training opportunities for disabled young people. “What’s happening at St Paul’s,” says Paula Griffiths, “is a fine example of realising the potential of church buildings. The church must not simply ask for money on a plate. To gain partnership, we also need to ask what we can do to be more responsive to our neighbours, to engage in dialogue, to open our doors to the community.”

The full report is available at: www.cofe.anglican.org/about/building/faithinourfuture.pdf