Lotto grant will end church's leaky roof buckets

A church where the roof leaks so much in the rain that buckets are in the pews and aisle has been handed a lifeline with a £250,000 grant.

The grant from the National Lottery's heritage fund will cover the a substantial amount of the cost of repairing and renovating the roof of Immanuel Church - part of the Parish of Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire.

Delighted church warden Wendy Hope said the grant was "massively important".

She added "We are so thankful that actually the lottery saw fit to grant us this massive amount of money to help us repair the roof and keep our beautiful church open."

Hope explained how dire were the problems affecting the 19th century Grade-II listed building which is one of the oldest churches in the east Lancashire town.

"We were at the point where our roof is leaking very badly now and beginning to compromise worship in the building," she said.

The warden added: "Just before Easter, one of the internal beams of the suspended sea, we started to crack and we knew we had to do something urgently - fortunately, I'd already started the process of applying for some funds from people like the lottery."

"Unfortunately, we've got little buckets now because there's certain places where it leaks in and, you know, it doesn't look very nice because when you've got buckets with water dripping in them."

Hope said the church also hosted many community events and concerts, adding the repairs will benefit the wider community.

She added: "We hold and preserve the history of a lot of churches that have closed particularly Winebelt, Thorne, we hold their artefacts. So we're custodians of a lot of history, of Oswaldtwistle's history."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.