Protecting and Revealing the Heritage of St Alban’s Church: St Alban’s PCC, Highgate, Birmingham wins National Lottery Support

St Alban’s Parochial Church Council, responsible for the Grade II* listed Victorian Gothic church of St Alban the Martyr, situated in an area of high social deprivation just south of Birmingham city centre, has been awarded £222,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, this grant will enable the Church Council to:

  • Protect the building by renewing the roof and making high-level repairs to walls and windows.
  • Adapt an existing side entrance to provide common step-free access for wheelchair users and ambulant visitors alike, compliant with the Equality Act.
  • Make the interior of the church visible and accessible to a wider audience through a continuing, public programme of regular open days, guided tours, educational events, concerts and recitals.
  • Make the architectural significance of the building, its furnishings and its historic context accessible to a wider range of people with different backgrounds and levels of engagement through new interpretive materials.
  • Recruit and train more volunteers to staff open days and other events.

The work on the building will start in March 2020.

We are excited to have received support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. This will not only secure the future of a spectacular Victorian Church, it will also allow us to make the history of our area, including the radical social action of church and chapel, known to today’s diverse local community and especially the youth of Highgate.

Fr Gerry Sykes, vicar of St Alban’s Church

This award follows a previous grant to St Alban’s PCC, also made possible by players of The National Lottery. In 2016, the Church Council received £85,000 from the Listed Places of Worship Roof Repair Fund, to renew the first fifth of the church roof.

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