Charity awards £100k to help revamp historic church hall

The community building in Stroud Green is set to undergo a major transformation, reports Taro Kaneko

St Saviour’s Church Hall and (inset) Dan Allwood

A charity funder will put £100,000 towards the restoration of a church hall in Stroud Green.

City Bridge Foundation, London’s biggest independent charity funder, invested the money to revamp the roof of the community hall at St Saviour’s Church in Hanley Road.

This comes as the distinctive gambrel roof was deteriorating with leaking water running down the walls and significant draughts.

Giles Shilson, City Bridge Foundation chair, said: “For generations, the hall has been a huge asset not just to the church but to the community of Finsbury Park.

“This funding will not only help bring it back to life but will also make the building more energy efficient.”

The rooftop renovation is the first stage of a £495,000 revamp of the hall. The rundown 125-year-old community hall is set to have solar panels and energy-saving heat pumps installed in the future.

Dan Allwood, St Saviour’s Church operations manager, said: “This funding is hugely important to us, and will allow us to open up the space to the whole community.

“It will also be really important in making us more sustainable.”

The hall, built in 1899 with money from congregation, served under-privileged parishioners and housed a Sunday school for working children. Since then, it has been used as a theatre, gymnasium and venue for weddings, birthdays and events for the community.

The City Bridge Foundation owns five Thames crossings. including Tower Bridge. The 900-year-old foundation awards over £30million a year to charitable organisations across London and has committed £15m to achieve net zero by 2027.

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