East Lothian mum launches last-ditch bid to save threatened church for community
| Author | Jacob Farr |
| Published date | 27 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
St John's Church in Whitecraig's was put up for sale for £100,000 by the Church presbyteries after it became evident that they could no longer afford to maintain it.
But Kate, who held an event for her mother's funeral in the premises and was christened in the Church, argues that the building should be kept within the community and used as a hub to support local villagers' needs.
She says that the Church has given little consideration to the option of a lease agreement and disagrees with the move to sell it to potential housing developers or relative outsiders.
The hall at the Church has been used by Whitecraig's Gala to host rehearsals and other events that are important to residents.
On the decision to sell, she said: "We used it over the last few years prior to Covid for rehearsals for our Gala events. I even buried my mother there in 2018 and helped the Church see the potential for renting the space out.
"As a member of the Church, I was devastated to hear that it was closing down last December (2021) due to the presbytery being unable to afford to replace a boiler and maintain the building.
"I feel as a community we have not had the opportunity to try to keep the space for local residents.
"A couple of us on the Gala committee have had experience of buying Church buildings in the past in Prestonpans by using various funding measures from organisations like the lottery.
"We were able to secure £150,000 in order to cover salaries and community programmes from this space and see a similar potential for St John's.
"I approached the Church about potentially leasing the space for a year, covering costs, and seeing how we would get on but we did not have any success.
"It is a huge building that is so important to many of us - it has so much potential.
"We feel the Church of Scotland is supposed to be there to serve members of the community but that this decision has simply come down to money.
"Unfortunately we do not have the funding to take on a mortgage at this time but local residents are trying to rally round to come up with a plan.
"A few people were saying if 100 of us could get together £1,000 then it could maybe work and I personally pledged the first £1,000 but it does not seem that simple.
"We have heard an investor wants to buy it and put up two homes. This would be heartbreaking as it is such an...
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