THREE churches have received over £10,000 to go towards renovation and refurbishment.

St Mary’s Church in Thornbury was given £2,500 to be spent on stonework repairs and towards a refurbishment of the kitchen.

A grant of £7,000 was awarded to St Mary’s Church in Frampton on Severn which will be used to build an extension to accommodate a toilet.

Marshfield’s St Mary’s Church has been given £3,250 to allow for internal alterations to make room for a toilet and a servery.

The three churches were amongst 14 churches in Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire to be given a share of £60,000 in grants awarded by Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust (GHCT).

GHCT’s grants committee met on Monday, December 1 to decide how they should allocate the money.

Dorothy Turpy, part of St Mary’s Church in Frampton on Severn’s building committee said she was “ecstatic” at the news:

“The total we need for improvements at the church is just under £60,000 so we welcome any grants we are awarded.

“At the moment we don’t have a toilet or running water in the church so this will enable us to improve the community facilities we can offer which will mean that the church can be used for more community events.

“We are really lucky in Frampton that we have such a good community who have helped with a lot of the fundraising we need.”

The Rev Jan van der Lely, the vicar at St Mary’s Church in Thornbury, said: “We support the GHCT with regular giving and through a sponsored bike ride on Heritage Open Day, and in return we can bid for funding for building maintenance.

“We are also applying for grants for repair, maintenance and improvement work on our organ at present, to make it more suitable for concerts and for choir accompaniment, but we don't yet know if we will be successful.”

Chairman of GHCT, Nick Talbot Rice, said: “Gloucestershire has some of the most beautiful and fascinating church buildings in the world, and we’re delighted to support projects that maintain and improve them.

“Residents and friends of Gloucestershire have been very generous to our cause because they understand how important these buildings are to their communities and to our county’s history.

“We’re very grateful to everyone who donates to GHCT, and are honoured to be helping so many worthwhile projects around the county.”

Cheques from the latest round of GHCT funding will be presented to individual churches over the next 2 months.

GHCT grants are available to any church, chapel or meeting house of a Christian denomination in Gloucestershire; full details of the latest grant awards and how to apply for a grant are available at www.ghct.org.uk

GHCT's main fundraising event each year is Ride and Stride - a sponsored walk, ride or cycle on the second Saturday in September.