St. Peter’s Church in Yaxley has recently installed a roof alarm thanks to a grant of £2,500 from Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust (CamHCT).
The grant was made possible by generous funding from AllChurches Trust Ltd and will protect the church against the continued increase in copper and lead theft from church roofs across the country.
Paul Russell, Churchwarden at St. Peter’s Church Yaxley commented: “After a suitable tender process we decided upon the most advanced CCTV security system available. Yet, after discovering the costs to be in excess of £6,000, we had to explore which grants might be available to us. Thanks to the generous support of CamHCT, we were eligible to receive £2,500 towards the cost of the alarm and were able to proceed with the installation almost immediately.”
“Not only does lead theft have a huge financial impact for us, but it can make the church building vulnerable to rain damage with the potential of causing long-term structural problems. The new alarm system helps us to sleep easy at night knowing that the roof has the best security system available today.”
The solution was installed by GBSG Ltd, a specialist security solutions provider, and supports intruder alarm technology with video verification CCTV. Footage of what caused the roof alarm to activate is reviewed by GBSG’s Alarm Video Monitoring Centre so that within seconds, it can be clarified whether the alarm activation is valid before notifying the police.
CamHCT offers grants and loans to help congregations look after their historic places of worship. Its main source of income is the annual “Ride, Drive and Stride” event where each September sponsored cyclists, motorists and walkers visit churches, chapels and colleges throughout Cambridgeshire, often sharing the money raised between the Trust and their local church.
For more information, please contact Paul Russell: paulrussell@saintpeters.co.uk