Let there be light - priory brightens up (From Ledbury Reporter)

Let there be light - priory brightens up

4:00pm Wednesday 17th October 2012 in News By Tarik Al Rasheed

AN ambitious £150,000 project is shedding new light on parts of a historic Malvern church that were previously being left in the dark.

Concerned that Great Malvern Priory was becoming increasingly gloomy on all but the brightest of days, congregation members launched a fund-raising appeal to replace the building’s outdated, 50-year-old lighting system.

A £75,000 share of a legacy left to the church got the appeal off to a good start and donations, fund-raising events and grants from Severn Waste, All Churches Trust and the Garfield Weston Foundation allowed work to get underway.

The project is being carried out by Gloucester-based contractor Anthony J Smith Ltd and is now about three-quarters complete. It is on schedule to be finished before Sunday, October 21, when the Bishop of Worcester, the Rt Rev John Inge, is visiting to dedicate the new lights.

Michael Angling, chairman of the lighting project group, is delighted with the progress.

He said: “People are already excited about it because you can see bits of the building now that you never could before because it was so gloomy. It will be really quite spectacular when it is all finished and it is not just for the benefit of the congregation but all the other people and groups that use the building.”

The church still needs to raise the final £6,000 for the project. Anyone who wants to make a donation should call the parish office onb 01684 561020 or email office@ greatmalvernpriory.org.uk.