A community hub will be developed at a church thanks to money from a lottery grant.

The 1,000-year-old All Saints Church in Allhallows, near Rochester, will undergo refurbishment so it can continue to support the remote community.

The Friends of All Saints were awarded £373,000 to go towards the project, which will include work to upgrade and maintain the Grade I-listed building.

The charity says it wants to ensure the community will be able to continue using the building for another 1,000 years.

Two years ago, the group was awarded £54,500 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

As well as making the church weather-proof, the charity wants to be able to develop activities people can use the space for, and tackle the issue of isolation in the rural community.

Project manager Steve Danton said: “We are absolutely amazed and extremely excited to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players.

"This award will enable All Saints Church to provide so much more in terms of a range of activities to a far wider audience across all age groups and abilities, which will be in addition to the regular events that currently engage with the local community.

"This funding represents the lifeline that our church building needed to incorporate the range of sustainable improvements and to develop and regularly offer the activities that we have planned."

The Friends say there will be an opportunity for new volunteers to to join to help complete the project, which could be finished as early as April 2021.

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