1. Yorkshire Maintenance Pilot Project
The National Churches Trust
Yorkshire Maintenance Pilot Project
Janet Edmond
Project Manager
Registered Charity Number:

2. What is the Yorkshire Maintenance Project
The National Churches Trust has received £90,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Yorkshire Maintenance Project which will help keep churches and chapels in Yorkshire in good condition and prevent the need for expensive repairs.
Micro-grant scheme of £40,000 in partnership with Pilgrim Trust
.This is a pilot project in Yorkshire and
The project focuses on promoting good practice in preventative maintenance at Yorkshire’s historic churches, chapels and meeting houses, delivering systems to make it easier for churches to maintain their historic fabric.
The Historic England Heritage at Risk register states:
‘Keeping drains and gutters clear so that water is taken away from the building efficiently is the most important thing congregations can do as this stops small problems developing into unnecessary crises.’

3. Key Aims
The Yorkshire Maintenance Project (YMP) will set up a maintenance management system to address skills and information gaps for churches in Yorkshire. The key aims of the project are:
To increase the number of Yorkshire churches that regularly undertake gutter maintenance
To promote awareness of the benefits of preventative maintenance through training
To improve knowledge of the conditions of churches at high and roof level
To result in heritage being in better condition as a result of regular maintenance care and inspections
We want to help make maintenance easier to manage for busy churchwardens, volunteers and clergy, help connect churches with high quality contractors, help churches demonstrate to funders and regulators that their churches are well maintained, and then eventually for this effort to result in churches in better condition.

4. There are 3 main strands to the project
Yorkshire Maintenance Project Actions
There are 3 main strands to the project
Drone surveys of churches to provide information and evidence for Management and Maintenance Plans, Quinquennial Inspections and immediate repair needs. Disks with images will be given to each church to share with their architect. The drone surveys were be carried out by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) in summer 2016
9 churches have already been surveyed by drones during the summer of These churches are :
Snaith Priory St Laurence
Thorne St Nicholas
Fishlake St Cuthbert
Swinton St Margaret
Wentworth Holy Trinity
Stannington Christ Church
St Joseph Church Sheffield
St Andrews Psalter Lane
Totley All Saints

5. Yorkshire Maintenance Project Actions
2. Training on church maintenance delivered by The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) to churchwardens and other volunteers responsible for looking after church buildings.
They will set up four new maintenance co-operatives in Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds and York offering two days of training during October and November and advice on practical elements.
This will involve training volunteers on how to inspect their churches and chapels and undertake common low level maintenance tasks. Churches will be able to develop a successful maintenance plan
We are currently recruiting for the four Cooperatives, so your help in connecting interested churches with us would be very welcomed.

6. Yorkshire Maintenance Project Actions
3.  ‘Maintenance Booker’, a new web based maintenance service, allowing the people tasked with looking after churches to quickly identify and secure an appointment for maintenance services through a qualified crafts person or contractor.
We are currently working on a publicity leaflet for the MB scheme which will soon be available.
Initially the service will offer access to contractors who will carry out gutter clearance services We are currently working on setting up framework contracts with suitable contractors in Yorkshire who will offer a fixed price for their gutter clearance service depending on the size of the church involved.
The Maintenance Booker scheme will build on similar types of project that have taken place in Gloucester and London Dioceses
The London and Gloucester maintenance systems were paper based - this one will be web based and should make it easier and quicker for people to find a maintenance service but also enable us to analyse the take up of the scheme more easily
The service will be available to all churches across Yorkshire, listed and unlisted and will launch in late 2016

7. Maintenance Booker
Maintenance Booker will make it easy for churches to keep gutters and drains clear by providing a quick and easy way of registering for professional gutter clearance services.
In the future it will also offer other maintenance services required for historic religious buildings
Cost a problem?
The scheme will gradually expand to offer access to other common areas of maintenance such as boiler servicing, PAT testing, fire extinguisher inspections
The National Churches Trust, with its partner the Pilgrim Trust is launching a micro-grant scheme in October with up to 200 grants to be awarded for 50% of the year 1 costs of gutter clearance. These grants are aimed at churches with small congregations or limited financial means.

8. Yorkshire Maintenance Project Update
Drone surveys completed on 9 churches in Yorkshire by MOLA, with data currently being processed. Data then to be shared with participating churches
SPAB have produced a flyer to publicise their 2 day maintenance training and this has been ed to Diocesan secretaries for general circulation. Requests made to Diocese to identify churches with volunteers who are likely to take part. Currently awaiting feedback. Once volunteers identified SPAB training dates and venues can be formalised.
Advert to contractors sent out and currently receiving Expressions Of Interest Framework contracts currently being developed.
Awaiting tenders for Maintenance Booker website design. Once tender awarded website development phase to progress and aim to go live by end of 2016
Micro grant scheme in partnership with Pilgrim Trust launched and application forms about to be circulated.
You will find most of our information via our website – grant under ‘our grants’
Our website is a key source of information about grants, fundraising and other(where you can find info on managing building projects, fundraising advice etc.) sources of advice relating to the upkeep, repair, maintenance and development of church buildings – and under ‘building advice’ you will find the Resource Centre and Support Organisations, as well as a link to the Professional Trades Directory which offers a wide range of trades people who can help you with  any part of your church, chapel or meeting house - With over 100 companies in our directory, you should be able to find the right person for the job. Anything from a leaking roof or stained glass that needs repairing, to new toilet facilities that need installing

9. Yorkshire Maintenance Project Update
What we need help with:
Recommendations for churches to participate in the Maintenance Cooperative
Help with marketing the Maintenance Booker service to churches in need of contractor help to clear their gutters.
Help with marketing the availability of grant funder to encourage churches to engage with the project
Help in identifying potential contractor partners, initially for gutter clearance work, but also for other maintenance tasks commonly needed by churches
You will find most of our information via our website – grant under ‘our grants’
Our website is a key source of information about grants, fundraising and other(where you can find info on managing building projects, fundraising advice etc.) sources of advice relating to the upkeep, repair, maintenance and development of church buildings – and under ‘building advice’ you will find the Resource Centre and Support Organisations, as well as a link to the Professional Trades Directory which offers a wide range of trades people who can help you with  any part of your church, chapel or meeting house - With over 100 companies in our directory, you should be able to find the right person for the job. Anything from a leaking roof or stained glass that needs repairing, to new toilet facilities that need installing

10. Contacts For Yorkshire Maintenance Project
janet Edmond, Project Manager
Tel:
Nigel Mills, Grants Development Officer
Michael Murray, Director of Church Support
7 Tufton Street, London, SW1P 3QB
Registered Charity Number: