100 courses; 3000 trained volunteers and a major…. Three reasons to celebrate for SPAB’s Faith in Maintenance Project!
Faith in Maintenance (FiM), a unique British scheme to provide free training for volunteers from all faith communities who care for significant, historic buildings as their place of worship has three reasons to celebrate next week. As well as running its landmark 100th course – taking the total of people trained to 3000 – FiM received a major European cultural heritage award at a ceremony in London.
Faith in Maintenance has been developed by Britain’s oldest conservation charity, SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings). Fittingly, its 100th course will take place on 11 September in London at the hugely significant Wesley’s Chapel in City Road, known as the ‘Mother Church of World Methodism’. Built by John Wesley in 1778, this was the first Methodist church to be purpose-built for the celebration of Holy Communion and preaching. Even more significantly for FiM, however, this course brings the total number of volunteers who have received targeted maintenance training to 3000.
This achievement has been recognised by Europa Nostra, the Pan-European Federation of Cultural Heritage which this year named FiM as one of 29 outstanding ‘laureate’ heritage protection projects from across Europe. FiM gained a prestigious award for Education, Training and Awareness-Raising. The award was presented officially at an event on September 17 at the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate in the City of London.
Since 2002, the annual European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards scheme has celebrated exceptional initiatives within Europe’s heritage sector. By “spreading the power of example”, the Awards seek to encourage projects related to heritage protection throughout Europe, with the key aim of stimulating the cross-border exchange of knowledge and expertise.
Describing FiM as an “exemplary initiative” the Europa Nostra judges hailed SPAB’s scheme to train and create a volunteer inspection network for the maintenance of places of worship as an “inspirational model”.
Places of worship are integral to the landscape of Britain, representing centuries of belief, craftsmanship and design. Yet many of our most precious faith-related buildings are in desperate need of repair and rely on the help of local supporters. SPAB’s FiM project brings direct assistance to the army of volunteers who look after a variety of these buildings in both England and Wales.
FiM is led by architect and former SPAB Scholar Sara Croft who says: “The project had been specifically designed to help all sorts of faith communities take effective steps to look after their places of worship. We bring our expertise and practical, hand-on experience directly to them in the form of a one-day course that is accessible, informative and, hopefully, enjoyable.
“Few churchwardens, for example, have relevant training, yet they are responsible for nearly half of England’s grade I listed buildings. They already do an excellent job, but the free training and information we offer enhances their work and gives them the confidence to take the right steps for their building.”
Since its inception in 2007, along with the practical courses, FiM has also produced support tools, including a maintenance handbook, monthly e-bulletin, website and a DVD.
FiM has been generously supported by the HLF, English Heritage and other partners.
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