WHAT IS THE TRANSFORMATION PROJECT?

St Mary’s has embarked on a major project for our church and wider community called “The Transformation Project.”

The aim of this project is to modernise the infrastructure of our existing building by creating an additional community space called “The Annexe” and by reordering our existing nave installing new flexible furniture and a high-quality engineered oak floor.

To make this project a reality we need to raise approximately £500,000 towards the cost of completion. Thanks to the generosity of many people we have already raised in excess of £356,000 since the appeal was officially launched in May 2018, leaving £141,000 to raise (Jan. 2020 update).

1. ANNEXE COMMUNITY ROOM

The annexe will be located on the south side of the church and will have level access via the restored south entrance. It will offer a community room for flexible use; modern toilets and a kitchen space. The facilities will be able to function entirely separately from the church and will be available for use by external groups as well as the St Mary’s Community.
It should be noted that the main entrance to the church will remain via the north porch.

NEW SOUTH ENTRANCE
A larger porch to provide a shared ante space offering access to the church itself or the new facilities. The new level access will provide improved accessibility for all.

WC FACILITIES
Two new WC facilities including a toilet for disabled persons and baby changing facilities.

COMMUNITY ROOM
A large multi-purpose community room that can seat up to 45 people. Double doors add the flexibility to open the space onto the churchyard.

KITCHEN
A small dedicated kitchen space for food preparation and serving.

LANDSCAPING THE CAROLIN GARDEN
The existing garden next to the south porch will be re-landscaped to create an attractive exterior social area.

2. RE-ORDERING THE NAVE

In 2017 St Mary’s made a commitment to re-order the Nave by upgrading not only current infrastructure, such as heating and lighting, but also investigating how the church building and nave could become more accessible and better utilised.

This includes installation of more flexible seating to maximise the function of the space firstly in the Church’s role as a place of worship and secondly as a venue for a variety of community activities.

The re-ordering of the nave will include the following work:

NEW LIGHT WEIGHT STACKABLE CHAIRS
The existing nave furniture will be removed and replaced with new light weight stackable oak chairs, to allow for the seating arrangement to be easily changed for a variety of activities.

NEW ENGINEERED OAK FLOORING
A new high quality engineered oak floor will be installed throughout the nave, this will create a level access through the Annexe into the nave.

INTERNAL RE-DECORATION
The inside of the church is in much need of re-decoration, this work will be carried out alongside the re-ordering of the nave.