Taylor Review Pilot Update January 2020
Interim report
The interim report of the Taylor Review Pilot has been published today (13 January 2020) by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and can be accessed online.
It sets out evidence from the first seven months of the scheme (September 2018 to March 2019) and identifies some valuable lessons learned during this time.
The final report is expected to be published in summer 2020.
Case studies
The Church of All Saints, Barton, Lancashire
The Grade I listed Church of All Saints in Barton received funding for the removal of plants from the stone work, treating exposed rafter ends and replacing missing lead work and slates. Advice from the Taylor Pilot Review team on maintenance, event planning and volunteer recruitment led to building surveys, prioritising future works and developing capacity to deliver a heritage offer in the years ahead.
What an excellent initiative! The Taylor Review Pilot has done so much more than provide a grant to help with some necessary maintenance work on our church…The whole project seems to me to be an example of resource management at its best.
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Wortham, Suffolk
Grade I listed Church of St Mary the Virgin was built in the 12th century. Its ancient round tower, now roofless, is possibly the largest diameter round church tower in England. The church possesses medieval stone carvings, Victorian pews and medieval and contemporary stained glass windows. Funding from the Taylor Review pilot enabled the removal of vegetation and repairs to the porch roof, walls and vestry roof.
…Working through the process has heightened my awareness of the church building and how to care for it…. None of the work would have been undertaken without the help and guidance of Historic England.
Final workshop
Fourteen of the planned workshops to encourage peer support and offer practical advice to congregations have already taken place but there is still time to book a place on the final workshop, being run in both Manchester and Suffolk:
- Monday 27 January 2020: Places of Worship and the Wider Community: How to consult and build strong local partnerships
Evaluation
Frontier Economics, the pilot evaluators, will spend their time in April 2020 reviewing the pilot data that has been gathered and travelling around Suffolk and Greater Manchester to interview some of the pilot participants.
We would like to thank in advance those of you who are willing to be interviewed during this time. All of this information will be collated and analysed in detail before a final evaluation report is prepared and published by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Pilot team
We are delighted to welcome back Karen Heverin, Fabric Support Officer in Greater Manchester. Karen is now full time following a period of absence during which time Lynda Jubb and Matthew Hackling provided temporary cover for Karen. We are grateful to everyone in Greater Manchester for working with Lynda and Matthew whilst Karen was away.
The pilot team will be working full time with their current contacts until the end of March 2020 before sending final pilot data and supportive information to Frontier Economics for the evaluation.
