Cash boost for church attractions

St Gregory's in Bedale has produced a story trail

Historic churches in North Yorkshire have been given a total of £20,000 in grants to improve their visitor facilities.

Nearly 50 churches including St Nicholas' Church, Bransdale, and St Bartholomew's Church in West Witton, have been awarded the cash by the North Yorkshire Church Tourism Initiative to fund various schemes.

These include church trails, guidebooks and audio visual presentations.

The project aims to highlight the importance of churches as places of interest for people of all ages.

More money, which comes from a variety of sources including the Heritage Lottery Fund, Yorkshire Forward and the Countryside Agency, will be available for new schemes during the second half of the three-year initiative.

How is the money being used? St Mary's Church, Farndale - Information boards. St Helen's Church, Escrick - History of Victorian Gothic revival style. Holy Trinity Church, Skipton - Audio-visual presentation. The Leper Church, Ripon - Display panel. St Hilda's Church, Sneaton - Visitor area.

St Gregory's Church, Bedale, has already used its grant to finance a story trail for children, designed and made by members of the congregation.

The trail consists of five activities, introducing children to the stained glass, wall paintings, carvings, tapestries and sculpture found in the church.

Church Tourism Officer, Catherine Megson, who came up with the idea for the trail said: "It is a wonderful way of encouraging children to explore the church and to learn more about this amazing building."

In total, 232 churches and nine major ecclesiastical sites in North Yorkshire are prompting themselves as tourist attractions but not all have applied for cash help.