Former Future Radio Station Coordinator and Presenter Kate Roma is the Local Community Officer for the Churches Conservation Trust in Norfolk and Bungay. With Heritage Open Days starting today, she explains why she made the career move nearly five years ago
During her stint at Future Radio in Norwich, Kate Roma started off by volunteering but quickly became a member of staff and eventually became the station manager. However, after 13 years in broadcasting – Kate also did some freelance work for Radio Norfolk – she decided it was time for a new challenge. The 58-year-old says: ‘I started work at the Churches Conservation Trust in 2018, which I think a lot of people thought was an odd choice for me, after working on radio for so long.’
Nationally, the Churches Conservation Trust has saved more than 350 buildings which attract almost two million visitors a year. All the churches in the collection are listed, mostly Grade I and II, and some are Scheduled Ancient Monuments. In Norfolk, there are 28 churches in the Trust’s care.
Kate explains the career move: I’ve always had a passion for history, I studied history at university, and as a child my father moved us to Norfolk because of his obsession with Norfolk churches – he was a brass rubber (a real ‘70s thing to do!) so he used to take me and my siblings around the county, looking at interesting churches. These buildings have seeped into my DNA!
‘The family moved to Norwich in the early ‘70s, from Northamptonshire, and I’ve been here on and off since then. I went away for about 10/12 years – university, travelling, living abroad – and came back in the early ‘90s. I went to the UEA, got an MA, and stayed.’
She adds: ‘I didn’t have a religious upbringing, although my dad was a Quaker. I don’t have a faith, but I love the sense of history and community that is associated with these great buildings. Norfolk has got more than 650 medieval churches.’
In fact, Norfolk has the largest concentration of medieval churches in the world. In Norwich alone, there are more than 30. Three of them – St John Maddermarket, St Laurence’s and St Augustine’s – are in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust, the third largest heritage estate in charitable ownership in the UK.
Kate is one of the Local Community Officers in the Southeast. ‘I work across Norfolk and have one church that I go to in Bungay, Suffolk, just over the border. My role is to make sure all the churches are open, wherever possible; that they are cleaned; and to find support with fundraising, because these buildings cost a lot to maintain, let alone all the conservation work we’d like to do.’ For example, the Trust is currently raising funds to make church roofs across its estate watertight.
Last month, the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Wiggenhall, between King’s Lynn and Wisbech, hosted a bat walk and community church clean, in collaboration with Bats in Churches. ‘It’s a beautiful church,’ says Kate, ‘but it’s also home to a colony of bats who basically leave their mark…because of Covid, regular cleaning had stopped there, and it built up to becoming a big job.’
She continues: ‘I thought no one would come but in this tiny village but we had around 15 people show up to clean the church and then between 20 and 30 people turn up for the talk which, in a remote village in west of Norfolk, on a Friday night was impressive. One couple who lived in the village turned up on their 45th wedding anniversary – they’d seen it advertised and wanted to do something different! It was a beautiful summer’s evening and I drove back along the A47 thinking I’d had a really good, different and interesting Friday night.’
Kate travels all over Norfolk to check on the churches: ‘It’s made me get to know my county because I find myself off the beaten track in part of Norfolk I have never visited before.’
The Norwich churches have been used for a variety of events: St Laurence’s has been hired by Wild Paths Festival; St Augustine’s was home to the Norwich & Norfolk Medieval Association’s camp in 2021, and last month historical musicians, Pearl in the Egg, performed an evening of Medieval music at St. John Maddermarket in aid of the Trust.
And with Heritage Open Days starting this month, the churches will be opening doors once again – thanks to the support of the Trust and the time given freely by local people to staff and curate the church for visitors. Beyond that, the Trust will be busy with site inspections and looking ahead to Christmas events in some of the churches: wreath-making workshops, carols by candlelight and such like.
The Trust is partly funded by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport and Church of England, but Kate makes the point: ‘We are reliant on grant funding and fundraising.’
Reflecting on the last five years in the post, Kate says: ‘The absolute pluses of the job include meeting people and finding people to support the church, which is really rewarding – I’m constantly amazed at the dedication of some people.’ She makes the point: ‘The volunteer base is ageing, and we are always looking for more, so if anyone thinks that they may be able to help with fundraising, cleaning or generally supporting the work of the Churches Conservation Trust they can get in touch with me.’
Does she miss her radio days? ‘I’ve always got a passion for radio – there are some days I miss broadcasting, putting together shows and working with partners across Norwich. But I’ve replaced that partnership work with what I do now. I really loved my time at Future Radio but it’s always good to have a new challenge and be open to learning new things and my role in the Churches Conservation Trust has done just that.’
The Churches Conservation Trust in Norfolk is taking part in Heritage Open Days, from September 8-17, 2023. Visit heritageopendays.org.uk and Churches in Norfolk – a Churches Conservation Trust group on Facebook. For the full list of the Churches Conservation Trust’s churches in Norfolk, head to visitchurches.org.uk. If you would like to get involved with the Churches Conservation Trust, contact Kate Roma: kroma@thecct.org.uk or 07721 866425.
Featured images supplied by Kate Roma
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