By Saul Cooke-Black

STROUD’S ‘iconic’ parish church needs around £1.5million for repairs to the building.

St Laurence Church, in The Shambles conservation area, is in need of new tiles for the roof of the main building and the hall, as well as new toilets, kitchen facilities and an underfloor heating system.

The church is currently making an operating loss on its day-to-day finances, with a small and ageing congregation of around 30.

To help raise funds, there are plans to hold more community events at St Laurence, which has been used as the parish church for Stroud since 1868 and is Grade II listed.

The Rev Malcolm King, from the church, said: “It is a big and iconic building in Stroud which needs to be open and needs to be used.

“We want to make the church a hospitable place for folk in the town.

“It is possibly the largest venue in Stroud and can serve as an ideal venue for events such as folk concerts and spiritual music festivals.

“We are very excited and encouraged by the events we have been able to hold since the new seating arrangement was made.”

Pews were removed last year to create a new seating area with a capacity of around 250.

Mike Lambert, church warden, said: “We are hoping to use the building for concerts and traditional Christian events.

“Services will continue as normal at the church. The church is definitely not closing.”

There is now an appeal for funds to repair the roofs, with donations sought.

Temporary repairs have been made to the church roof over recent years but to avoid further leaks it needs to be re-tiled, which is estimated to cost £300,000.

Replacing the tiles at the church hall would cost around £150,000.

Upcoming events at the church include the Community Christmas Tree Festival from November 29 to December 6.