Building Project Update - By Eleanor Benson

Finally – after over two years of planning, fundraising and prayer – the actual renovation

and extension of the church hall is about to begin.

Having signed the contract last week, our builder, Dobson Construction Limited, is keen to

get started. They will begin on 30 November on some of the preliminary stripping out

needed in the WCs and kitchen along the corridor off the main hall. That will allow us to

keep using the main hall and Jubilee Room up to Christmas. In January the main work will

begin, starting with a new roof for the whole church hall and Jubilee Room and the Cottage.

The project prioritises the work that is most urgent: a new kitchen and accessible toilets;

three new meeting rooms and, obviously, the reroofing. The rest of the project including a

new entrance and front corridor will be carried out in subsequent phases as funding is

available.

There have been some significant obstacles to overcome and we are so thankful to God for

his grace and power in enabling us to get this far.

One obstacle has been the tree in the back garden. As general principle both the Diocesan

Advisory Committee and Leeds City Council planners strongly discourage the removal of

healthy trees. Unfortunately, it only became clear in the summer that the tree would have

to go because of the type of foundations required for the new extension. It has been time-

consuming and fraught with anxiety to get permission from both bodies to remove the tree

- but we now have this just in time.

Another greater challenge is the rising cost of the project. We started out in 2024 thinking

maybe at a stretch we could carry out the refurbishment of the entire church hall complex.

Then unforeseen events intervened, notably war in the Middle East, American politics and

cost of living pressures. So it does seem a miracle from God’s hand that we have enough to transform the main hall and facilities to make them fit for use in the 21 st century by the

whole community. We are hugely grateful to the many people who have given money and

time to the project over the last two years. Various grants have added substantially to the

pot. Finally, discussion with the contractor has produced enough savings to be able to go

ahead in December.

For more information please do talk to any of the Building Committee: Eleanor Benson

(chair), Rev. Mark Harlow, Angela Betts, Sarah Ayres, Nick Fry, Geoff King and Ed Jackson.