HHCT has existed for over 60 years, with a single purpose: To raise funds for the repair, restoration and improvement of churches of all denominations in Herefordshire, thereby encouraging wider interest in them and keeping them alive.
The Trust does not exist in a vacuum, however, and there are many organisations with which we have contact and without which so many other churches would not benefit.
We’d like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the work of a couple of these organisations and thank them on behalf of the Trust and Herefordshire’s churches now.
NADFAS is a national organisation which supports local Decorative and Fine Arts Societies. Each local Society brings together individuals to share their appreciation of and commitment to the arts. All 360 local Societies have an exciting programme of monthly arts lectures, study days and gallery visits, and Members have the opportunity to join a broad range of hands-on preservation and conservation projects.
One such project was the conservation and framing of this red frontal for Bosbury Holy Trinity Church alongside a white one which had the embroidery placed on to a new fabric.
At St.George’s Church, Brinsop, a fragile banner of St.George was mounted on to a new silk. The banner shows a dramatic figure of an armour clad saint on a white charger piercing a green dragon-like creature through the mouth. Created for the church in 1906 by the celebrated church furnisher Sir Ninian Comper, the banner was losing the silk backing that supported it and NADFAS volunteers donated their time alongside funds raised by HHCT to make the restoration happen.
If you would like to donate your time to a project like this, contact NADFAS about becoming a Member of your local Decorative and Fine Art Society. If you would like to donate money to HHCT to ensure we can continue to fund work like this, click here to go to our How You Can Help page.
SPAB is an acronym anyone with an interest in architecture will recognise, but are you aware of SPABMCP? Those last three letters stand for Maintenance Co-operative Project, and in the Hereford and Worcester region alone there are six (and counting) such cooperative groups dedicated to maintaining our beautiful churches. Ewyas Harold is Herefordshire’s star performer, but there is also activity around St Anna’s Thornbury and in the Lugwardine area.
The Maintenance Co-operatives Project aims to connect, inform and empower the people who look after our ancient faith-related buildings. Along with protecting significant historic structures, the project will also encourage more people to become actively involved in their local community’s heritage while broadening and strengthening their own skills base.
SPABMCP supports numerous drives throughout the year to encourage people to get their hands dirty and stave off decay, like National Maintenance Week in November and the ever popular National Guttering Day! They also have a blog, so you can check out what they’re up to by clicking here.
Now, aren’t you glad you found out about National Guttering Day? You can thank us later…
Click here to find out more about SPABMCP, and click here to head to our How You Can Help page.
