Building Update

The town is growing heavily at the moment, with lots of new housing going up on various sites. Our Church is in West Hucknall. Because of the population growth in the area, and our proximity to the new developments, we obviously considered how we can best serve and support the new community that will be moving in over the next few years, in addition to continuing what we do in the current area.

We considered obtaining community space in the new areas using Section 106 money. However our investigations found that whilst there is a significant amount of this money it has already been earmarked for the likes of highway improvements, primary / secondary education and health provision, to name only a few. As such we took the decision to refurbish and extend our own building so that we can hold more community based groups, be open more often, and be a better resource / functional space in the area.

As a Church we already run several community based groups for all ages. For example we have Ripples and Paddles toddlers groups where lots of local Mum’s bring their kids. We have Splash youth groups for young people in the area. We also have Fountains Dementia Café to support people with dementia. And many more groups like coffee mornings, ladies meetings, St. John’s, Sure Start etc all use our building throughout the week. All of these are groups that we want to build on and expand upon to better support and serve the community.

The Church members voted to extend the building on 21/02/16 and an architect was appointed to get plans drawn up. We gained planning permission from the local Council and obtained quotes from building companies to carry out the work. We ran lots of fundraising events, which raised a fair amount, but the majority of what was raised came from personal giving from Church members. We also explored what grants and donations may be available to us.

Having acquired quotes for the work we decided that extending the building isn't achievable at this moment in time. As such in March 2019 we decided to refurbish areas of the building using the existing footprint. This includes a new kitchen, new disabled toilet at the back of Church, a full refurb of the hall, and replacement of the old green cladding on the outside of the building.

We are so excited about where God is taking us as a Church and long to see His will be done in our lives and our town. Amen!