Our redevelopment project
Building for everyone
In January 2026, work began on our £700,000 redevelopment project, transforming our buildings and providing accessible, modern facilities for the benefit of our village community. The work was completed in August 2026.
The church buildings, being near the centre of the village, are heavily used by community groups including Scouts, Brownies and Beavers, AA, a community choir, Yoga, Tai Chi and Pilates classes, with more than 400 people on the premises each week. However, access has always been a problem because the rooms are spread across two floors and multiple levels.
Now, a new ground-floor entrance and lobby has been created and a low-rise staircase and lift installed, making the building accessible to all, including wheelchair and pushchair users. Downstairs, new unisex and disabled toilets have been installed, while upstairs there is a light and airy open-plan lounge and well-equipped kitchenette.
The changes don’t end there, though. We have responded to the climate crisis by ending our use of fossil fuels, replacing our gas boiler with an electric air-to-air heating and air conditioning system and highly efficient and easily managed air source heat pumps. This means that we shall be using 80% less energy, and with all our electricity coming from renewable sources, we won’t be generating any harmful greenhouse gases. This will not only be better for the planet, but also for air quality in the village.
These changes have made the facilities far more welcoming, comfortable, accessible and flexible, and an even more valuable asset for community use. In partnership with Citizens Advice, Warrington, the church intends to become a base for community advice, and the enhanced performance and hospitality facilities will provide the village with an excellent and much-needed venue for a programme of regular concerts, exhibitions, author and dance events.
All this has only been possible because the Church has raised over £700,000. More than £300,000 of this has come from the church community, while the remainder is made up of grants, including a generous award of £100,000 from Benefact Trust’s Methodist Grants Programme. Benefact Trust is one of the UK's largest grant-making charities and awarded more than £25.5 million to churches, charities and communities in 2024. Benefact Trust’s Methodist Grants Programme is funded by donations from Methodist Insurance PLC.
‘We are delighted at what has been achieved,’ says church member John Woodthorpe, who led the project team. ‘Our buildings are a valuable resource for the village and hub for our outreach activities, but our ageing facilities were not terribly welcoming, and they were difficult to access for anyone with a pushchair or wheelchair. Without making these much-needed improvements I fear that our long-term future would have been in doubt, which would have been to everyone’s loss. The generous support of Benefact Trust has helped to ensure that we can continue to serve our community and provide a Christian presence for decades to come. We look forward to people using our new facilities.'
Our architects were the Finlason Partnership. The contractor was DJL Construction Ltd. Project management was by Innov8 Development Systems.