Praise be! Repair work work gives Duncansburgh Macintosh Church a new lease of life

Much of the work involved working a high level, repairing and replacing pointing on the mix of granite and sandstone materials as well as replacing some of the original external wooden louvres around the bell matching exactly their look and colour.

In total the work was completed over a four week period even with with several interruptions for various church activities.

One condition of funding from the Churches Trust was that the Duncansburgh Macintosh building was to be open to the public for 100 days a year outwith church services which is now being met with volunteers from the congregation welcoming people at the door.

In addition to this information sheets in various languages have been produced detailing the history of the church. With a thought to younger visitors the Guild has produced bags containing various activities to keep them amused.

For some time, both church halls have been in regular use for a number of community activities by various groups, from Yoga and dance classes to training sessions for various official bodies, music and choirs.

To further capitalise on this and take the pressure off the volunteers who currently spend quite some time organising these bookings, the Church has appointed Hannah Bateman to manage use of the hall, which can now also be booked online.

Sheana Fraser, Trustee Elder and Finance Convener said: "We are all delighted with the work carried out to make our church building water tight and would like to thank everyone who helped raise funds and also put up with the disruption caused before the work was carried out.

"We also express our gratitude and appreciation to the National Churches Trust for their support.

"The two halls we have are a great resource and are very well used. Their operations will now be easier, as will booking them for events.

"They should make a major contribution to funding future work on the buildings to make sure we last another one hundred and thirty eight years."