GutterClear is the name of a collaboration between the Diocese of Gloucester and Maintain our Heritage, a not-for- profit organisation founded in 1999 and dedicated to encouraging good maintenance practices for Britain’s historic buildings.
GutterClear was launched in 2007. It was a follow-up from a pioneering pilot maintenance scheme Maintain organised in Bath, which showed a strong demand from churches in the Diocese for a simple way to keep their gutters and downpipes clear of leaves and other debris.
It’s not a company; it’s an entirely voluntary method of helping churches in the Diocese to find a local contractor to get their gutters and downpipes cleared. There are no formalities, fees, or anything you have to join or notify anyone about, or any forms to fill in.
A report on its first three years of operation is available on request to Maintain.
You can read more about the work of Maintain our Heritage here.
Churches are part of nationwide problem of problematic maintenence, but Gloucester is leading the way forward
Churches all over Britain are facing huge repair bills, along with many secular buildings such as schools. Listed Church of England churches alone face a backlog of more than £1 billion.
Some parishes, however, are greatly reducing their repair bills by adopting regular, preventive maintenance practices for their gutters and downpipes, treating them just the same as their boilers.
In fact, some Dioceses – like Gloucester – are leading the fightback. Instead of relying on intermittent, if welcome, volunteer maintenance, parishes here can use the GutterClear scheme to ensure their church gets regular, professional visits, thereby avoiding the disasters that invariably follow neglect.
GutterClear is now in its ninth year. Similar schemes have been set up in the Dioceses of London, Norwich, St Edmundsbury & Ipswich and Chelmsford, and a new one is being set up in Yorkshire. Training and maintenance co-operative schemes are also being carried by voluntary sector organisations like the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.
Your church is unique and irreplaceable. Regular preventive maintenance means that your church community can be confident about handing it on in a condition good enough that it will continue to be part of your community for generations.