FCC confirms grant

29/11/2024

PRESS RELEASE

Funding approved and work starts on the repair and renovation of St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Portobello, Edinburgh.

The people of Portobello are set to benefit from improved facilities at St Mark’s which will enhance the community events it is able to offer, thanks to many funders including the most recent, a £40,000 grant from FCC Communities Foundation.

The FCC money will be used to improve the kitchen and accessible toilet facilities as part of the Towards 200 Years restoration and renovation project at St Mark’s in Portobello. This will have huge benefits for church life as well as for a wide range of community use and events. Contractors HM Raitt have now started work at the site.

Rev Canon Dr Sophia Marriage, Rector at St Mark’s Episcopal Church believes the facility will make a difference to the lives of people living in the area.

She says: “This project will provide a real boost to the people of Portobello. It is so exciting to see the work now underway after 10 years of vision and 5 years of fundraising. We are extremely grateful for the funding and support FCC Communities Foundation has given us and we’re really looking forward to our church taking shape over the next 6 months.“

FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community projects through the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund.

Penny Horne, FCC Communities Foundation grant manager, says: “We’re delighted to be supporting the Edinburgh – St Marks Episcopal Church Renovation project and pleased our funding will make such a difference to so many groups of people within Portobello and the surrounding neighbourhoods. FCC Communities Foundation is always happy to consider grant applications for projects that benefit local communities and we’re looking forward to this one having a positive impact very soon.”

Sophia Marriage hopes the church will be ready to use by April 2025.

 

 

Media information:

For further press information please contact Rev Canon Dr Sophia Marriage at rector@stmarksportobello.org

Notes to editors:

• St Mark’s Episcopal Church is an Episcopalian church, part of the Scottish Episcopal Church, the Diocese of Edinburgh and of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The church is home to a vibrant worshipping congregation and is widely used by community groups, including for rehearsals, concerts, exercise classes and performances, art exhibitions, support groups and coffee mornings. It occupies a prominent position on Portobello High Street surrounded by a garden that is widely used by the community.

We gather round the Eucharist twice a week, where we creatively share our faith, nurture each other and grow together. We are fully inclusive and see ourselves at the heart of life in Portobello.

 

• FCC Communities Foundation is a not-for-profit business that awards grants for community, conservation and heritage projects from funds donated by FCC Environment through the Landfill Communities Fund and Scottish Landfill Communities Fund. Since 1998, FCC Communities Foundation has granted over £200m to more than 7,000 projects which benefit people living within 10 miles of a FCC Environment landfill site. For more information please visit fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk

 

• The Landfill Communities Fund and Scottish Landfill Communities Fund – any waste that is discarded which cannot be reused, reprocessed or recycled may ultimately be disposed of in a landfill site. To encourage the re-use, recycle and recovery of more value from waste and use more environmentally friendly methods of waste disposal, Landfill Tax is charged on each tonne of waste sent to landfill. Landfill Operators (LOs) are able to redirect a small proportion of landfill tax liability to support a wide range of community and environmental projects in the vicinity of landfill sites through the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF) and Scottish Landfill Communities Fund (SLCF). The LCF is regulated by ENTRUST on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs, and the projects are delivered by enrolled Environmental bodies (EBs). The SLCF is regulated by SEPA on behalf of Revenue Scotland and projects are delivered by Approved Bodies (ABs).