St James the Great Church in Aslackby, near Sleaford, named Church of the Year in National Church Awards

A county church has received the coveted ‘Church of the Year’ award.

St James the Great Church in Aslackby, near Sleaford, has received the title alongside also receiving the English Church Volunteer Award in the National Church Awards, regarded as the ‘BAFTAs for churches’.

The church was amongst 200 others which were nominated across the UK.

Chris Gudgin, who accepted the award, said: “This award is just fantastic.

“Three weeks ago, we held a party in the church to celebrate the end of a project to ‘Repair The Roofs And ‘Bring Church And Village History To Life’, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

“Since our Dementia Friendly Award about ten years ago, we have been working with the charity Dementia Support South Lincs on a regular basis.

“This project gave us the perfect opportunity to work with members of our church community living with dementia to explore the history of the church.

“Our starting point was the roof lead, which was smothered in historic graffiti. We called the project ‘Scratching The Surface’.

“We could not have foreseen the depth of engagement that first hand investigation and experimentation stimulated.

“Club members used census returns to cross reference the names recorded in the lead and stone and put forward the idea of an audio trail and a walk-round guide for visitors.

“Our involvement and inclusion as people living with dementia is so self assuring, the benefits are immeasurable.

“These past two years, we have been immersed in exploring, discovering and documenting by word and audio the amazing history of this wonderful building.

“This [involvement] makes us feel so grateful, validated and enables us to continue to live with the vital feeling of hope for the future - life continues.”

To win Church of the Year, the church must show it is sustainable, that it is looked after, relevant, in use and open for all.

Winning churches took home a range of rewards and mementoes including prize money of £500, £750 and £10,000 for the Friends award, a display plaque.

For group winners, they received the award, hand-crafted by Craig Mace, one of the cathedral architects, in Lincoln Red stone.