Down Baptist Church Nears Completion

September 2010

On September 22^nd, HoLT Trustee Roger Bright, CEO of the Crown Estate, joined Diana and Tara for visits in East London to view some of our most urgent projects. Roger visit St George's Woolwich, where a temporary roof has been erected by English Heritage to shield the mosaics. This project has received support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and looks set to go ahead in the near future.

We also visited Downs Baptist Church in Hackney Downs, where he met the vicar, Rev Samuel Ghann - the vicar has been galvanizing the local community and the church now offers various community support projects, from computer classes to breakfast clubs for children and a homeless shelter in the winter. The restoration of this stunning Neo-Romanesque church, costing over £200,000, is nearly complete, and Roger was able to hand over a cheque for £5,000 towards the restoration of the rose window and iron crosses on the roof line - this project received press coverage in the Hackney Gazette. We are so pleased to see this church looking bright and new again, ready to welcome parishioners and visitors - only a few years ago the church was over-run with pigeons.

** Hackney Gazette Article, September 30,2010

photos: Roger Bright hands a cheque to Rev. Samuel Ghann, watched by (left to right) Tony Nelson of EJ Roberts Roofing, Dan Martin of Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, Diana Beattie and Emerson Bennet of EJ Roberts Roofing ; details of the window and cross