The church team at St Michael and All Angels, Melksham, has launched a building project that will see the church expand for community use as well as the renovation of a neighbouring house, number 11 Canon Square, that they recently purchased.
The project, called Building to Serve, will involve a two-phase process. The first phase is to renovate number 11 Canon Square to include converting the top rooms into accommodation for church staff, space for a parish office, community rooms and more space for youth groups.
The second phase of the project will involve renovations to the church building, including the installation of a kitchen and toilet, as well as the removal of the pews to make it more accessible for community events such as concerts and toddler groups.
“The project has three goals: to serve the church family, the wider community and the next generation,” explains the church rector, Charlie Thomson.
“The Building to Serve project is an opportunity to invest in our facilities to meet the growing needs of our church and community.”
To fund the project, the church team needs to raise £500,000 and recently, to kick off their fundraising mission, there was a ‘Pledge Sunday’, where members of the congregation pledged to raise just over 10% of the funds through a variety of ideas.
“People have pledged to do a plant and craft sale, family puppet show, a bake sale, a Three Peaks challenge, quiz nights, and a sponsored walk,” explains Charlie.
The wider community is also invited to take part in fundraising and pledge ideas to help the church raise funds through a community meeting, which will take place on Thursday 2nd May at 7.30pm at St Michael’s Church room.
The tam is also looking at forming a working group to help with grant applications for the project.
