Legacy Project

Update - October 2024

A number of initiatives have been tried this year with some relatively small successes – given the huge scope of the Legacy Project.

Heritage Lottery. Our Expression of Interest application made in April was rejected. However, HL is giving free professional advice for a new application.
Heritage England. Following the visit to Parliamentary Offices at the invitation of Valerie Vaz (MP), four representatives from Heritage England made a site visit. We had hoped for strategic advice: instead they offered a possibility of a medium-size grant with some up-front costs.
West Midlands Mayor. The newly elected West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, encouraged us to approach his staff about the Legacy Project for St Matthew’s. They know of our plans but are unable to help at present.
Bumble Bee Project. The relationship with Walsall Rotary Club is flourishing, with a lunch held in the church and visits to the Garden of Rest area. The project came second in the National Green Church Awards in the category Action on a Shoestring. The volunteer workforce is increasing – and adding greatly to informal community engagement.
Bells. Increasingly the tower is used for visiting bands, raising our reputation nationally.
Concert and Events. The Musical Director, Andy Clayton, holds a programme adding significantly to Walsall’s cultural offering. A highlight was Jimm Rennie’s Nativity production, a specially-written musical. BBC Radio 4 Any Questions? held a live broadcast from the church.
Heritage Talks and Events. Heritage Open Days take place each year and the impact is increasing, with the Mayor and councillors visiting to appreciate Walsall’s heritage. School visits take place regularly. John Edlin speaks frequently to local groups, notably Rotary and Probus. There was a new initiative of a “Medieval Walsall” day, a collaboration with staff from Walsall Leather Museum. The Civic Carol Service was combined with the Mayor’s presentation of the “Bun and Shilling” to selected Blue Coat School students. The Bishop of Wolverhampton’s Welcome Service included the reading of a Letter Patent from King Charles III.

The roof above the stone stairs was reslated and flashings replaced because of leaks. Three grants were received towards the costs, and VAT will be reclaimed under the Listed Places of Worship scheme.

Update - October 2023

Emerging from the pandemic, grant awarders at The National Heritage Lottery decided they would not make large grants until January 2024, so applications will be made early in the New Year.

The PCC has supported initiatives to grow new audiences using the church building. Andrew Clayton, musical director, has arranged a series of concerts including, as examples, a piano recital, a concert band and a string ensemble. The demand for use of the space exceeds our capacity to host events. Nigel Dutton has promoted St Matthew’s as a venue using the building to host the Bhangra Smash Up, the Old Time Sailors Concert and a Folk night.

The PCC is pursuing a funding option in partnership with Blue Coat Academy to enhance links and cooperation. This initiative will make St Matthew’s a “resourcing hub” for many local churches, and the status of the church will move towards becoming Walsall Minster.

Small measures of progress can be seen.

We have received a donation from Walsall Rotary Club to support creating Bumlebee friendly planting in the Garden of Rest area to the East of the churchyard – the former site of Blue Coat Infant and Junior School. Ros Clewes is taking a lead on this work. The relationship will be strengthened as Walsall Rotary Club will hold a meeting annually in St Matthew’s Church on the Friday of the September Heritage Open Day.
The churchyard continues to draw many people. Volunteers make gradual improvements, though given the size of the site, these are never going to be more than incremental.
We held a Summer Heritage Invitation focussed on Tuesdays in the summer holidays. These were supported by new walking tour leaflets and improved signage internally.
John has held meetings with Councillors, notably Cllr Chris Towe (mayor) and Andy Street (mayor of WMCA), to press the case for heritage funding St Matthew’s. John was invited by MP Valerie Vaz to present the case for St Matthew’s at a Heritage at Risk event hosted by MPs in Portcullis House (next to the Houses of Parliament).

Thank you for your continued interest in the Legacy Project.

Update - October 2022

Emerging from the Covid pandemic, in Autumn 2021 Heritage Lottery informed the Legacy Project Committee that new large projects were unlikely to receive support. They advised us to complete a Community Audit and a Feasibility Study. The budget for this work was £17,500, an amount St Matthew’s could not afford in addition to the expenses associated with maintaining a heritage building. Consequently a round of grant applications was made and we received funding from Heritage Lottery, The National Churches Trust and the Lichfield Diocese Community Fund, which covered all our costs.

Consultation was carried out between February and May, though the last report was not ready until September 2022. The work represents a substantial milestone towards achieving the Legacy Project Vision. It also opens the way for fundraising towards major repairs, reordering, seven-day opening and a full programme of events through the week. Work to secure substantial funding seems likely to take a year, possibly more, but there is increasing momentum to suggest major building work will begin in 2024.

In the absence of major funding towards building works, we still make what progress we can. In the last year:

Our volunteer work has made substantial environmental improvements to the churchyard and the whole Church Hill Conservation Area – these being supported from time to time by local businesses and listed on the Supporters page of our website.
Our “Safer St Matthew’s” Crowdfunder raised sufficient money to install new security lighting and a 12-camera CCTV system.
Our diaries show clear evidence that the grounds are much cleaner and safer now compared with before the pandemic.
Our public profile has increased as the church became part of the Heritage Hippo Trail – 20 camouflaged hippos are placed on Walsall landmark buildings, together with information about their significance.
Our community reach is extending as The Centre building bookings return towards pre-pandemic levels and with the appointment of an Operations Administrator.
The PCC has appointed a Musical Director who has started a post-pandemic choir, and who will bring a programme of events to St Matthew’s in 2023.
Our Heritage Open Days and talks continue to be popular.
Our school visits have reached pre-pandemic levels with large assemblies on Tuesdays and Fridays, and an annual cycle of visits for carol services, Founders’ Days and Presentation Evenings, as well as heritage visits.

Thank you for your continued interest in the Legacy Project.

Update - January 2022

St Matthew’s Church, Walsall has been awarded three grants totaling £16,500 to fund a Feasibility Study.

The Study will look at developing the building for community use – as a visitor destination with a café, a Walsall heritage experience, Mums and Toddlers, history tours and exhibition/performance space. These ideas form part of the much larger “Legacy Project”, a vision to repair and reimagine what the 800-year-old church can be for the next 200 years as it heads towards 1,000 years of history.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the National Churches Trust and the Lichfield Diocese Community Fund have awarded the grants because they recognise the importance of the work which will generate ideas about future uses of the church building. It will run from February to May this year. Community consultation about options and proposals will begin in March.

Rector Jim Trood said “We have achieved an important milestone towards a bright future for the building and all that it means for the people of Walsall. We are very aware that so many people love this church and have special memories of it. Combining an important heritage, magnificent appearance, location, and outstanding acoustics, it really is an inspirational building, the very best place for celebrations, performance, award ceremonies and school assemblies – as well as being a busy Place of Worship. The building is a beacon of peace and hope for all the communities in Walsall.”

Dr John Edlin, Chair of the Legacy Project Committee, said: “The Study will not repair a single window, nor will it fix the roof or drains – that is ongoing work which we still need to fund. But it is a huge step forward. We look forward to working with interested parties who want to contribute to Walsall’s most important heritage asset and we are very grateful for the strong message of support from Mayor Rose Burley posted on Facebook.”

Update - September 2021

The Legacy Project is a plan to repair and reimagine the church’s use for the next 100 years. This note provides an update of progress towards the Legacy Project since last year.

Covid looks likely to delay the Legacy Project for at least two years. Not only was our Expression of Interest towards the £4.5 million project withdrawn by Heritage Lottery early in 2020, but new funding priorities have moved away from previous heritage criteria and towards inclusion, economy, wellbeing, local area, skills and organisational resilience. The fact that the St Matthew’s community is still in a strong position is testament to its ability to adjust rapidly to changing circumstances. The church’s action plan for the next five years has building and community as a core component.. So, in spite of difficult circumstances, we are making progress, having received a number of small grants and some business sponsorship. We have

installed business broadband and now livestream events to congregations, ceremonies, school events and to support Wolverhampton University courses
run a crowdfunding campaign called “Safer St Matthew’s” (following the theft of lead and two fires which caused significant damage) for new security lighting and CCTV
three young people on the government’s Kickstart programme, one specifically working on heritage repair/improvement of the churchyard and the building
made a valuable contribution within the local community through shopping for people isolating, networks of phone calls, donations to food banks, delivering prescriptions and similar voluntary work, typically 15,000 hours per year
continued voluntary work throughout the Church Hill Conservation Area, litter picking and making environmental improvements .

Work on developing St Matthew’s as the focus of a Heritage Area for the town continues – there are exciting opportunities: for example, we look forward to working with Ben Parker on Walsall Council’s new Heritage Forum. That said, the Legacy Project is huge and was always expected to take at least 5 years to complete. Our next significant milestone is to commission a Feasibility Study, putting the Legacy Project bids for funding on a professional footing: we currently hold one grant offer towards this and expect the rest of the funding for this to be in place before the end of the year.

Update - August 2020

In September last year, St Matthew’s Church launched its “Legacy Project”, a vision for the future of St Matthew’s as a building and the way in which it can serve the people of Walsall.

In January 2020, the Church Council and its Legacy Project Committee were successful in getting through the first step in the Heritage Lottery (HL) funding process with a successful Expression of Interest for work totalling £4.5 million, to include all the repair work required to windows, roof and re-ordering/refurbishment of the ground floor of the building. In addition, a substantial part of the funding was for two people to be employed enabling the church to be open throughout the week and for heritage/education visits to be supported. That does NOT mean we have got some money at this stage! – merely that the funding body sees merit in the idea and would like to see the idea developed. HL is keen to see the idea of a performance venue and a heritage site for Walsall come to fruition, linked to education and training. Unfortunately at the end of March, all Expression of Interest stage applications were withdrawn due to the Covid-19 emergency, so unfortunately we will have to begin the process again when HL funding reopens, possibly early next year.

When we submit a new Expression of Interest, it must clearly show we have made adjustments to reflect the “new normal”, as well as taking on board a number of suggestions made by the funders. The church already has new Covid-19 arrangements for private prayers and one Sunday service at present, with suitable measures in place for safe use. We hope we will be in a position to submit a new Expression of Interest application as soon as Heritage Lottery permits, possibly early next year.

However, work on developing St Matthew’s as the focus of a Heritage Area for the town is continuing. We are pushing for funding through the My Town scheme where the church has potential to trigger regeneration in Walsall. Other avenues of funding are being explored. Increasingly volunteers are becoming involved in cleaning up the Church Hill Conservation Area as a community facility for the town and to raise civic pride, adding to the works by Walsall Council on the improvements to the town centre.

The church always values input and feedback about its work. If you would like to know more or contribute as a volunteer or financially, please do get in touch.