Campaigners bidding to save a historic Scots church from ruin have launched a fundraising “Buy a Brick” scheme as they step up their effort to secure the building’s future.
The 100 Days to Save Coats Memorial campaign has teamed up with pupils from Castlehead High School to launch the project they hope could raise up to £50,000 for their cause.
Built in the Gothic revival, the Thomas Coats Memorial Church has been part of Paisley’s skyline since its construction in 1885 – and with its striking 200ft crown steeple, is sometimes referred to as the “exclamation mark” on the town’s horizon.
Its features also include a vaulted ceiling, mosaics, stencilled decorations and carved marble font and pulpit, while a rare 3,040 pipe organ, designed by Lincolnshire organ builder William Hill & Sons, has remained unaltered since it was installed in 1890.
But the building is now empty and disused.
On February 1, a group of local campaigners launched the 100 Days effort, aiming to make Coats Memorial a venue to stand comparison with the likes of Glasgow’s Oran Mor and Edinburgh’s Mansfield Traquair, while preserving its history.
The steering group is aiming to raise £1.5 million in 100 days for its preservation and return to use as a multi-purpose venue hosting theatre, opera, ballet, pantomimes, rock concerts, folk music, weddings and other functions.
They have now announced the “Buy a Brick” initiative which will see students from the school lend their time and skills to create 500 engraved plaques which will be available to the public to buy for £100 each.
The plaques will be mounted on the entrance wall within the church building where they will stay, commemorating the many people who donated their time and money to save it.
Ian Henderson, a Coats Memorial Steering Group member, said: “I am proud to be in a position to work with the students from Castlehead High School on this campaign. Coats Memorial is a church that was created to enhance our community.
Thousands of people have passed through its doors to celebrate life’s biggest events and we hope it can continue to serve as community space for everyone to enjoy.”
The campaign has already raised more than £34,000 in just 27 days and the “Buy a Brick” project is one of many initiatives that the Steering Group has planned in order to make the fundraising goal a reality.
Thomas Coats and his family have longstanding links with Paisley. The philanthropist and founder of J&P Coats, the cotton thread and zip and fastener manufacturing firm which is intrinsically linked with the history of the town, at one stage employed 10,000 people.
The entrepreneur ran his thread works in Ferguslie and he and his wife raised 11 children in Ferguslie House. He had been involved in the restoration of Paisley Abbey and funded other projects in the town.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel