Ludlow's St Laurence's Church receives £27,000 heating fund boost
Ludlow's historic St Laurence Church has received a £30,000 cash boost from the town council.
Councillors voted to allocate £9,000 from council funds for each of the next three years.
It comes hot on the heels of an appeal for cash to help fund a £40,000 scheme to install a temporary boiler to heat the church this winter.
It is an interim measure until a biomass system is installed next year. The current ageing heating system costs the congregation £21,000 a year in heating bills
Shaun Ward, project manager for the renovation work on the 800-year-old church, where £700,000 has already been spent, said town council backing would send out an important message.
"Town council support is very important and sends a message as well as enabling other matched funding to be achieved," he said.
The project to install a new heating system will cost £40,000, of which £23,000 has been raised so far.
Mr Ward added: "St Laurence's Church is a community asset and the church community are custodians of that asset. "With better heating more people will be able to use and enjoy this incredible building.
"The town council's move to support the project will help us provide a long term solution to this heating problem." He said that the building was open 365 days a year to all members of the community and not just members of the Church of England.
