The Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Councillor Patricia Logue, today extended her warm congratulations to three local churches acknowledged this week in the National Church Awards.
Known as the ‘BAFTAs for Churches’, the awards recognise excellence in a number of areas including tourism and maintenance, with eight of the 45 finalists located in Northern Ireland.
At a ceremony in London this week, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Strabane, received the Church Tourism: Open for Visitors Award, and Christ Church, Derry, picked up the Church and Community Volunteer Award in partnership with the Marsh Charitable Trust. St Mary’s Church in Altinure, Park, also received the Nayler Award for Excellence in Church Maintenance.
Congratulating all the winners, Mayor Logue said it was a real testament to the commitment of local volunteers and communities in maintaining our local churches.
“I am delighted to see three of our local churches singled out for recognition and that all three regional winners from the North are in our Council area.
“I want to extend my congratulations to all three who are very worthy winners, and play a really important role in our local community.
“I was particularly pleased to see the Church of the Immaculate Conception acknowledged for Church Tourism, which offers a new visitor experience and opens our churches up to more people.
“Churches have a pivotal role within local communities, but they also feature prominently in our local heritage, helping shape history down through the ages.
“Well done to all the local winners for their dedication to maintaining our churches and bringing people and communities together.”
Curator of the Tower Museum, Roisin Doherty, has been working with the Community Heritage Team at the Church of the Immaculate Conception to develop their heritage and tourism offering.
“I am delighted to see the Church of the Immaculate Conception rewarded for the innovative work they have been doing to attract visitors and open up their collections to a wider audience,” she said.
“The Church building is open every day and in the last year there were an incredible 118,560 visitors.
“There are fabulous museum interpretation panels and leaflets, souvenir brochures, and guided tours and the judges loved the fact that the church has engaged well with the local tourism partners and community.
“Our churches are a wonderful asset with so many fascinating artefacts and we will continue to work with them to shine a light on the important role they have in local heritage.”
People will have the opportunity to explore the three churches as they throw open their doors for ‘Visit Your Finalists Day’ taking place on Saturday, November 18.
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