All about the Friends

Back in the 1970s St Peter’s was threatened with dereliction and even demolition. Local people got together to save the building and the Friends of St Peter’s was born. From then, until the 2021 renovation project, the Friends managed St Peter’s on behalf of the Churches Conservation Trust as a venue for the community run entirely by local volunteers. 

What we do now: We support St Peter’s and the Sudbury Arts Centre by working with the Churches Conservation Trust and the Bridge Project. We help provide funding for new equipment for St Peter’s and for repairs to its organ and bells. We also continue to support the local community hirers who used St Peter’s over many years and brought so many benefits to the town to ensure, where possible, they can continue to use St Peter’s for the benefit of the local community.  

Want to be involved with the Friends, be kept informed, just click here.

Want to know more about our history – click here. 

The 2021 renovation project: The renovation project gave St Peter’s a new roof (well nearly new), a lick of paint on most of its walls, a larger kitchen, toilets, a small gallery, a new heating system plus a host of other repairs and improvements. And despite what some people think, the wood flooring in St Peter’s was not renewed, just sanded down and resealed. St Peter’s now looks fantastic, its light, airy, warm and welcoming.

Funding for this project was provided by the Lottery Heritage Fund, Babergh District Council, the Friends and a host of other grant and donation providers. In total we, the Friends, provided over £135,000 for the 2021 renovation project and 1,000s of hours in volunteer time in advising the Churches Conservation Fund on the project. 

Sudbury Arts Centre: The Centre is now managed by staff employed by the Churches Conservation Trust. Originally the staff were employed by the Bridge Project, Sudbury to manage the Sudbury Arts Centre but this charity failed in March 2025 and the staff were transferred to the Churches Conservation Trust to ensure the Heritage Lottery Funded activities in St Peter’s could continue under the Sudbury Arts Centre banner. 

We welcome all the new activities taking place in St Peter’s and all the people who are experiencing St Peter’s for the first time. The team in St Peter’s are putting on lots more activities for the community with a particular emphasis on those who may not have been catered for in the past. This is all to the good – but it does come at considerable extra cost and there is a natural concern as to how these extra costs are to be met in the short and medium term. Community hirers in particular have expressed concern at the very high cost of hiring the venue which they consider to both prohibitive and exclusionary. 

Many people in the town feel strongly that St Peter’s belongs to Sudbury, it is a community building, saved by the community when it was threatened with dereliction and demolition in the 1970s, and its 21st century renovation was funded by the community. We all have a stake in St Peter’s and we all want to be part of its 21st century journey. 

Two charities one building??? Two charities looking after one building in a medium sized market town might seem excessive, but at least this is simpler than when St Peter’s re-opened in 2023 when we had three charities looking after the one building. Each charity has its own role although if you want to complicate things you might mention that St Peter’s is legally owned by the Church of England and although not used for regular service it is still consecrated ground.

The Churches Conservation Trust (or CCT as we like to call it) is a body funded by the government and the Church of England Commissioners to look after churches that are no longer used for regular worship. St Peter’s is one church in over 350 looked after by the CCT. That means the CCT looks after the fabric of St Peter’s, that leaves a gap to provide equipment for St Peter’s and to manage the bells of St Peter’s and its organ. We work with the Suffolk Guild of Bell Ringers to improve the bells and the bell ringing chamber. We work with traditional organ builders and tuners to maintain the organ in St Peter’s under the careful eye of our President, Roger Green.

Want to be involved with St Peter’s, or just be kept informed, click here.

What we used to do: We managed St Peter’s on behalf of the Churches Conservation Trust from 1976 up until September 2021 when the building was closed for renovation works. Working entirely through volunteers we built up a stable of community groups who ran their events in St Peter’s and the hire income from this was then used to fund the operating costs and basic repairs of the building. Our stewards opened up St Peter’s to casual visitors so this beautful building could be enjoyed by all. During this time we also ensured major restoration works on the organ and the bells were carried out.

Want to know more? Just go to our history page by clicking here.

What about the future: Sudbury Arts Centre is an exciting development for the town and there has been a huge investment in St Peter’s to make this happen. Sudbury Arts Centre is not cheap to run and is likely to be dependent on external funding, in the short term this is provided by the Lottery Heritage Fund. Once this source of funding comes to an end, which is expected in October 2026, then St Peter’s will enter into the next stage of its role as an active and relevant community building in the heart of Sudbury. It will be for the Churches Conservation Trust and the Sudbury community, in its widest sense, to ensure that St Peter’s remains at the centre of Sudbury’s life serving the community for the long term.

Sudbury Arts Centre: to find out more – go to their website www.sudburyartscentre.com. You can also email them on info@sudburyartscentre.com or call them on 07799 424078.

The Churches Conservation Trust: To find out more – go to their website www.visitchurches.org.uk.