St Patrick's Catholic Church in Soho has reopened after a 14-month, £3.5m restoration project, which has reversed the effects of over a century of damp, dry rot, and urban pollution on the historic fabric of the church, as well as clearing away decades of smoke from gas lights, incense and candles.
The church raised money through donations from a variety of sources, and the restoration has included the creation of classrooms and offices, and a community room and industrial-sized kitchen, which will provide a new home for the weekly 'Open House' evenings for the homeless, and allow meals for the roughly 2,000 needy people who attend them each year to be prepared on site for the first time.
However, St Patrick's still needs to raise more money if they are to install six stained-glass windows specially designed for the church, which show St Francis of Assisi, Florence Nightingale’s companion Mother Magdalene Taylor, and Mother Teresa.
