AN ABERYSTWYTH church has received grant funding of £100,000 for “essential” roof repairs as ambitious plans to renovate the building are put in place.

St Michael and All Angels Church has been awarded the funding by the UK Government-funded Listed Places of Worship: Roof Repair Fund.

The roof of St Michael’s, built in 1890, was battered by the storms that hit the Aberystwyth coast in 2013 and 2014.

A repair bill for the work to restore the roof came in at £125,503.

In addition to the grant received from the Listed Places of Worship, St Michael’s also received another £24,000 from different grant awarding bodies, including £10,000 from National Church Trust, £5,000 from The Garfield Weston foundation, £3,000 from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, £2,000 from the All Churches Trust, £2,000 from the Laing Family Trust, £1,000 from the Pantyfedwyn and £1,000 from the Alan Evans Trust.

Rev Mones Farah told the Cambrian News: “The roof of the churches needed repair and investment in, but because the demands on our on our resources have been too high, it meant that the cost has been beyond our reach.

“However, this grant now enables us to fix up our roof which means that the building is secure for the future, which now will enable us to look at the other building issues that we need to attend too.”

Those “other issues” means grand plans for the church if fundraising and grants can be secured, with work set to cost around £1m.

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