Viridor Credits Awards Nearly £1 Million to All Saints

KINGSTON UPON THAMES, U.K. - May 3, 2013 - PRLog -- The grant – among the largest ever awarded by Viridor Credits – will help to ensure that the project can be completed on schedule early in 2014.

There has been a church on this site for over 1,000 years and it is allegedly the place where up to seven Saxon Kings of England were crowned. With continual usage, this historic Grade 1 listed building was in dire need of both essential maintenance and substantial redevelopment to allow it to flourish as the cultural and emotional centre of the community.

Work started in February this year. The grant from Viridor Credits will go towards the second phase of the project, in which ASK will reorder and redecorate the interior of the church, level the floors, and install new heating and lighting as well as a refreshment bar.  This will complete the refurbishment phase of the project.

As with all grants under the Landfill Communitites Fund, the grant from Viridor Credits is conditional on a substantial sum being provided by third parties, and the church’s congregation and friends have risen to the challenge, pledging over £48,000 to the cause which will be added to pledges from other sources.  The Rev Jonathan Wilkes said:

“A few months ago we launched our 'Angels' campaign to help raise the money to complete this exciting project.  Never has a name been more appropriate!  Everyone who has pledged money to help us secure this grant can rightly be described as an angel.  

“This is a major vote of confidence from an important funder, and puts us well on the way to completing the refurbishment phase of our project early next year.  We are not yet out of the wood, and we still need a few more angels to help us to secure the rest of the money we need, but we are confident, with this backing behind us, that we will be successful.”

Lisa Nelson, General Manager of Viridor Credits, said:

“All Saints is a church of immense historical significance and one that has maintained its place at the centre of the community throughout its long history.  We are delighted to support phase II of the project in providing upgraded facilities to benefit the community of Kingston and beyond.”

Notes for editors

All Saints Church, in the centre of Kingston, is the only Grade 1 listed building in the town and is a site of national historic importance.  Athelstan, the first man who could truly be called King of England, was crowned on this site in AD 925, as were possibly as many as six other Saxon Kings.  The redevelopment project being undertaken by All Saints Kingston Development Trust (ASK), with Ptolemy Dean as the architect, will celebrate this history and improve facilities within the church to enhance its role as a centre for community and cultural activities as well as worship.

Viridor Credits Environmental Company distributes funding through the Landfill Communities Fund.  Funding is available for community and environmental projects within ten miles of an active Viridor landfill site.  Since it was established as an Environmental Body in 2001, Viridor Credits has distributed more than £80million to over four thousand projects across the UK.

ASK Development Trust is a registered charity, no 1146858.