A Carse of Gowrie village is celebrating a £250,000 windfall for its local church.
The Heritage Lottery Fund award to Inchture Parish Church has been made under its Grants for Places of Worship programme, which is jointly funded by Historic Environment Scotland. This grant will go towards the repair and conservation of the church, providing access for all, and internal alterations.
The church has been at the heart of village life for well over a century and the grant will help to maintain that role.
Parish minister, Reverend Dr Marjory MacLean said: “A wide range of activity is planned for the future which will not only share the heritage of the building but target issues such as loneliness and isolation, advice and support, and facilities for young people.
“We will also be working with the local primary school to develop work within the Curriculum for Excellence and encourage some of the pupils to take on roles as guides in the project.”
The Grade 2 listed building was built in 1891 to replace a previous building which had been burned down.
It was built of locally quarried sandstone which has weathered badly and is in need of significant repair.
A major fundraising campaign was launched to tackle this and at the same time to make internal alterations, making the building fit for purpose for the 21st century. The addition of kitchen, large meeting space and new state of the art sound and visual system will open up a “new” community facility designed to cater for the needs of a growing, rural community and ensure those with special needs are catered for.
Among those gathering at the church to make the announcement were representatives from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Environment Scotland, Paul Stephen of JFS Architects and members of the Inchture Church Development Group.
