Press

One of the City of London’s most iconic churches, Holy Sepulchre (HSL), has been awarded a £158,758 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver a Resilient Heritage project and secure a sustainable future. Over the next nine months, the project will explore options to secure the fabric of the Grade I listed church, which is in need of vital repair work. The funding will also go towards supporting the development of a suite of new activities including wellbeing walks, an art and heritage school workshop, and a food distribution volunteering event.

HSL, which is known as the National Musician’s Church and home of the Musicians Memorial Chapel and Royal Fusiliers Memorial Chapel, has now appointed expert professional teams to identify a clear strategy for capital works that will protect and enhance the building, identify actions towards net-zero carbon, and expand its vibrant community programmes.

Rev Nick Mottershead, Rector of Holy Sepulchre London, said: “Securing The National Lottery Heritage Fund grant is fantastic news to ensure we can continue to not just progress on restoration and conservation of our building, monuments and green spaces, but also expand our range of community focused local, national and international activities. Over the last five years, we have made great progress raising £1.5m to undertake some urgent ceiling works, restore a Model D Steinway Piano, and establish a large range of musical services including the Sir Henry Wood End of Proms service. We have also designed a range of dementia friendly community activities including Musicali-Tea and Communi-Tea and more coming soon to contribute to the health, wellbeing and community belonging in London. The NLHF funding is a real vote of confidence in HSL and its activities – we hope it will be central to supporting the life of the church for the next 1,000 years.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of England - London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support Holy Sepulchre with this important resilience project, made possible thanks to National Lottery players. As one of the City of London’s most historic and culturally significant churches, it plays a unique role in connecting people with heritage and community life. This project will help safeguard the building for future generations while enabling the church to broaden its reach through inclusive programmes that support wellbeing, learning and volunteering. We look forward to seeing Holy Sepulchre continue to thrive as a welcoming space for all.