Best rescue or repair of a place of worship

 When the Church of St. Peter was threatened with redundancy and formal closure the villagers of Shackerstone were shocked and unable to accept that the building had no future. Five individuals got together to form a a Charitable Trust, a Registered Charity, to help ensure that the Church would survive for future generations.

The tower dates from the late 15th century, the remainder of the building from 1845. It is a dominant feature at the centre of a small village and its closure would have torn the heart from the community.

The scale of the project was considerable. The church was about to be closed due to the dangerous state of the mains electrical systems, but this was only one of a number of significant problems - severe damp and drainage issues, failing chancel roof coverings, and decaying stonework amongst them.

Replacement of the collapsed floor was the first step; the Victorian box pews were reinstated to maintain the building's character. We have also completed the rewiring of the church and the renewal of rainwater disposal systems; we have also managed to re-roof the chancel.

But our story also is, we hope, a positive one that shows what even a small group can achieve. In a few short years we have managed to reverse the gradual but inevitable, persistent and cumulative decay of many decades. Although more work is still needed, St. Peter's is now clearly a well loved building, and again at the centre of the village. It is heartening to know that our generation was not the one that failed in its duty to pass on our heritage.

 The Good Shepherd church was designed as a replacement for the original 1920s building, which by 1960 was too small for its congregation, and completed in 1964.

In 1994, it had become clear that the previous round of repairs (in the 80s) only scratched the surface of a huge problem, and merely represented the first phase of an urgently needed major refurbishment programme to prevent irreversible damage to the structural fabric.

The following 5 year period saw the pitchmastic flat roofs replaced by superior mastic asphalte, downpipes and underground drainage cleared of debris, and all visible areas of corrosion damaged concrete dismantled and rebuilt, including structural columns, cross beams, window mullions and fascia panels, the upper section of the Spire rebuilt and the entire 100ft shaft cleaned.

Unfortunately, by 2005 a further 30 concrete repairs had become necessary in columns and window mullions, plus 14 in fascia panels, mortar pointing of parapet copings was loose in high and low level roofs, and for some reason not apparent at the time, concrete packing and debris had started to detach from the rear of concrete fascias. August 2008 saw this work funded and complete.

A professional condition report in 2010 identified the need for more work to be done to replace roof coverings, replace parapet copings, and avoid potentially catastrophic failure of fascia panels, and so an application for financial assistance from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund is presently under consideration.

The unremitting efforts of the Parish Priests, together with dedicated teams of volunteer and professional helpers, in rescuing this beautiful building from dereliction and eventual ruin, merit recognition by the English Heritage Angel Awards 2011.

 St James Priory was founded as a Benedictine priory around 1129 by Robert, First Earl of Gloucester. The building of the church was completed around 1170; the parish end continued to be adapted and expanded up until the end of the Victorian era.

The church was declared redundant in 1984 and lay empty until 1993 when a voluntary organisation took over its lease and began using it to assist the homeless. It subsequently developed associated buildings for drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.

A project team was assembled to not only assess the need for conservation work to the historic fabric of the church but also to investigate the opportunities for bringing more visitors to the church.

A major fund-raising campaign was launched by the St James Priory Project and over £4.2 million was raised and in November 2009 building work finally started.

The work to this historic church has called upon the extensive use of a range of traditional building skills and so it was good that with the help of the Princes Foundation and Heritage Bursary Scheme we were able to provide placements for five trainees. In addition we welcomed a number of educational visits from the local university and national interest groups.

People have been worshipping in St James Priory Church and using its associated buildings for nearly 900 years. Hopefully the work which has just finished will give it a new lease of life and allow it both to continue playing its traditional role as well as enabling it to be used for a range of exciting new uses.

 Left Bank Leeds is our rescue bid for the former St Margaret of Antioch church (built between 1906-1909). The notion of a church that's not a church, in a really ugly building that's secretly really beautiful, sits well here.

Left Bank Leeds was started by a group of local Christians from different congregations with a common vision to save the building and give it a new lease of life, not only as a worship space but as an arts, music, creative, celebration space for the whole community. 

We were thrilled in February 2011 to finish over £700K of roof and window repairs and to declare Left Bank rain and pigeon proof! (Apart from the turrets at the east end, which still aren't quite there...).

And despite the fact that there is still no heating and the toilets are a bit rough and ten minutes after you've cleaned the dust sneaks back, that's exactly what people have started doing. 

We have more than 120 volunteers, drawn from the local community, the Christian community and the arts community. They've helped us serve drinks, sweep cobwebs, design displays, dig the garden, take photos, research our history, make comics, sing, pray and laugh. And that's just for starters.

We're still a bit freaked out by the magnitude of the job but we're determined and enthusiastic and getting better at what we do. We are proud that the pigeons have left the building, (carried out in three 8-tonne skips of dead birds and pigeon poo!). We will find the money for heating and facilities. We will design programmes of events that introduce local people to exciting artforms they've not been able to experience before and that draw people to explore their spiritual as well as their physical world.