A group of volunteers have abandoned plans to restore the oldest church in Brent after their bid for Lottery cash collapsed, leaving the church's fate uncertain. SOPHIE KIRKHAM reports

A group working to preserve the oldest church in Brent has had to surrender its lease on the building because it cannot raise the cash needed for renovations.

The six trustees of the Wembley History Society have looked after Old St Andrew's Church in Church Lane, Kingsbury, for 20 years, planning to use it as a museum and resource centre for community groups, but ran into trouble after starting a major refurbishment project four years ago.

The church, built soon after the Norman conquest in 1066 and is the only grade 1 listed building in the borough, is being handed back to the Anglican diocese of London which will be looking for another organisation to take on the lease and responsibility for renovations.

David Harvey, chairman of the trustees, said: "A lot of hard work has been put into plans for the church over the last few years. We are obviously sad that we have been unable to achieve these proposals."

The trustees had applied for a Lottery grant, but after an initial hint of a grant of 70 per cent of the total refurbishment cost of £36,000, that figure was reduced until only 30 per cent of the total was on offer.

The trustees' secretary, Phillip Storr Venter, said: "We made five applications to the Lottery fund, but their priorities were changing all the time. We have an income of only about £2,000 each year, and we are a voluntary group with little time on our hands. We couldn't raise that sort of money."

The church has not been used as a parish church since the new, larger St Andrew's was built in the 1930s, and it was officially closed to the public in 1978. Proposals for refurbishment included a new roof, re-wiring and the installation of a kitchen and lavatory in the vestry. The building is safe and poses no danger to the public, but the renovations are desperately needed to maintain the building.

The trustees hoped to be included in future decisions about the church, and perhaps be allowed to undertake some of the running costs, but Roger Clayton Pearce, diocesan redundant churches secretary, said: "They are giving up the lease, so we won't be working with them in the future. I am sure they will express an interest in the church, but we are hoping to find someone else to take on responsibility and it will then be up to that body to raise funds.

"It is too early to know of any specific plans."

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