By Margaret Crosby

Published at 11:11, Thursday, 24 May 2012

WORK has begun on a £250,000 project to transform the interior of Egremont Methodist Church into a community centre.

Title
Author
Copyright

Description

The exterior of the building will remain unchanged but inside the rows of pews, which have already been removed, will be replaced by a large multi-purpose floor area for use by community groups. Upstairs there will be small room to replace the current balcony.

The church will however continue to be used for Sunday worship, baptisms, weddings and funerals.

Contractors have already begun work on the changes which will also include installing a suspended ceiling, a new heating system, kitchen, toilets and storage facilities. There will also be a high quality sound stem, a screen and data projector.

Church steward Alec Bounds said: “There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’re already looking forward to the time in October when we can open up the renovated building for everyone to come and see.”

To meet the cost of the project the church community has been busy raising funds and making approaches to grant-making bodies. Church treasurer Katie Bell said: “Our biggest funder is WREN, who granted us almost £50,000. We would like to thank all our funders, including WREN, national Methodist funds, the Clothworkers’ Foundation, and the Joseph Rank Trust, who have all put their trust in us to deliver a facility that will be of genuine benefit to many local community groups in addition to the church community.”

Funders have been impressed by the £50,000 raised in holding events and from donations. “People have worked tirelessly to raise this money,’’ said Mr Bounds. “We’ve had food and quiz nights and many church members have given generously to the scheme.’’

The idea for the scheme arose when minister, the Rev Philip Peacock, asked church members to complete a questionnaire about how the church’s premises (the church building and the adjacent hall) could be developed. He said: “We decided to keep the current church building and sell the church hall, as we didn’t need both. We’ve consulted the local community to help develop our ideas, and we hope to welcome additional activities to our transformed premises.’’

Egremont Methodist Church was established in 1876, and currently has just over 50 members.

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk