Published: 14/01/2025
Updated: 14/01/2025
Congratulations to our Chair of Trustees, Roger Evans, who has been honoured with an MBE for his services to ecclesiastical heritage in England and Wales.
Roger has been a voluntary Trustee of the Friends of Friendless Churches since 1983. From 1992-95, while also serving as MP for Monmouth, Roger was a member of the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee. In that role, he encouraged an inquiry into the protection of historic buildings in Wales. The resulting survey of Welsh listed buildings led to a formal partnership in 1999 between Cadw, the Church in Wales and the Friends of Friendless Churches, which includes the provision of an annual grant — Roger played an instrumental role in developing this structure, which continues to provide critical protection for Welsh churches today.
From 1994-97 Roger was the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, and since 1998, he has served as our Chairman. Under his passionate and expert leadership, spanning 26 years, the Friends of Friendless Churches has gone from strength to strength; 18 historic places of worship across England and Wales have been saved for the nation, and today, 62 churches are carefully managed and protected for future generations. The charity is now in its strongest position since its founding in 1957 — and its stability and status mean that we can save more at-risk churches than ever before.
Moreover, Roger’s personal, hands-on involvement with the buildings in our care and the people who look after them means that the impact of his contribution is felt not just nationally, within religious and heritage institutions, but also locally at the churches and the communities that love them.
We are delighted by this recognition for Roger’s immense contribution to English and Welsh heritage. We congratulate and thank him for all that he has given and achieved.
