St John the Baptist Church, Badingham

Project: Delivery Phase grant from National Lottery Heritage Fund (£2 million)

Role: Bid writer & Fundraising Mentor

This project is run entirely by volunteers from the Parochial Church Council and local people within Badingham who came together when it became apparent in 2018 that the nave of the Church could no longer be used due to damage to its roof which had to be scaffolded for health and safety, closing the nave for worship and drastically affecting local community life.  The church was placed on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2021 and the scaffolding cannot be removed until the repair work is carried out.  The project seeks to repair the building so that the scaffold can be removed and the building brought back into full use.

To support the Council, I was funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund to prepare a month by month fundraising plan for the volunteers to follow to achieve their match funding, to devise a template funding bid for them to use and to draft the more complex bids for submission. I helped to coordinate their mid term Review meeting, wrote their Delivery Phase bid and coordinated the budget and all the supporting documents required for the Heritage Fund submission.

Testimonial from Revd Claire Kiddy, Rector of St John the Baptist Church Badingham

“Claire was a  godsend to our small volunteer team, at a time when we were completely overwhelmed by the complexities of the National Heritage Fund Development stage. Claire offered support, she was clear in how she could help us to move forward in our match funding and what was required of us too. She went above and beyond our expectations, not only in coordinating our mid term review meeting but also in writing and preparing our Delivery Phase bid. If it hadn't been for Claire's professional abilities we would not have been able to submit the application on time. This was unexpected work for Claire and it meant that she had to reorganise her personal diary but she was prepared to do this to help us at a most critical stage. Claire seems to have the ability to look past the inexperience of the volunteer team and to take on board their passion and enthusiam for restoring the much loved church of St John the Baptist, Badingham. Claire gave of herself wholeheartedly to this project and we are extremely grateful.”