A VILLAGE church is delighted after its application for funding to stabilise the at-risk site has been successful.

St Andrew's Church in Althorne has seen its bid for a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund accepted.

The Parochial Church Council said it is "delighted" to receive the development funding, which totals £145,761.

The money will be used for plans to stabilise and celebrate its beloved, but at risk, Grade II Listed medieval church.

It is also to enable the church to progress their plans and apply for a full National Lottery grant of £1,300,344 at a later date.

Dating back to the late 14th century, St Andrew’s is a key part of local history and a focal point of the community, but urgent repair needs saw the church listed as Priority A on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.

The development grant will be used to develop the heritage project which, if the full grant application is successful, would see works commence in 2026 to stabilise and restore the beautiful church.

Residents' love for the historic site were felt in the church’s 2023 community survey.

Lorraine Collins said: “St. Andrew’s has stood there for over 700 years and is the centre of the community where many social as well as religious events were held until it was deemed unsafe.

“It is a lovely old building with a lot of history which should be preserved.”

Tony Bates said: “The heritage project will enable us to rebuild our church but also to better serve and share our heritage with the wider community.”

Lucien Taylor said: “We are very excited about our heritage project. The continued support of our community is needed to complete this project for the benefit of our local people and others.”

The heritage project would also create a range of heritage and legacy assets including video anthologies of residents, war memorial research, research on people buried in the church’s graveyard and much more.

There will also be opportunities for volunteers and skill training around dementia, epilepsy and mental health.