On 14th August St Mark's received some very good news. The award of a grant of £525,000 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund was officially confirmed. This money has been given to assist with the restoration of the tower, which is the second and final part of the project. As previously pointed out, the work is expected to cost £750,000, and with the money which the parish already has in hand, it is estimated that we will now have to find a further £100,000 to complete the project. This is still a substantial sum, but it is less than 10% of the overall costs of £1.1 million. We must be grateful to National Heritage for their generous grant. It in itself is a recognition of the merit of our efforts, and all that we have so far achieved, to maintain a conspicuous and distinctive landmark in Belfast. Our parish church, because of its architectural merits, is a Grade A listed building and as such we are required to preserve it. It is good to know that in this immense task we have the sympathy and help of outside bodies such as National Heritage.
On behalf of all our parishioners I would like to express sincere thanks to our 'Stonework Steering Committee' whose members, very busy professional people in their own right, have given up much time, thought and effort in the interests of the Restoration Project. Over the course of sixteen meetings, they have identified sources of funding and initiated many schemes to realise much needed financial help. It is very gratifying that their efforts have come to fruition in this way. They have up to the present been instrumental in generating almost £1 million, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude.
Coupled with this we also express our sincere thanks to our very able and tireless Honorary Parish Treasurer, Miss Patricia Mackintosh, who has not only had to bear the weighty duties of looking after our day to day finances, but has had much additional work in relation to the Stonework Restoration Project. In consultation with our Project Architect, Mr Alistair Coey, she has been responsible for submitting the many forms and documents necessary to obtain this latest generous grant, as well as other grants from government sources already received. I would like to express to her a personal word of thanks for the clear and sensitive way she has presented the needs of the Project to the parish, both in meetings and to our church congregations.
The magnitude of the £525,000 grant will do much to free us of the anxieties of trying to raise £3/4 million, which would have otherwise used up much of our efforts over many years to come. Although we have still much hard work to do to raise the rest of the money needed, and there is no room for complacency, yet we will be able to concentrate more fully on what God wants us to do as a Church in this part of Belfast in our ministries of pastoral care and outreach. At the end of the day, there is only one source of blessing, and that is from the Lord who loves and cares for us. We owe him all our thanks for providing so wonderfully for us and our Church in all its needs.