An ongoing project to upgrade facilities at a mid-century church is improving its ability to support the wider community.
St John’s at Wallsend has a new access ramp, toilets that are both accessible and inclusive, and baby change facilities.
The latest phase of the scheme was completed in January, when the Venerable Rachel Wood, Archdeacon of Northumberland, led a service and blessed the newly enhanced entrance to the church.
Churchwarden Heather Smith said: “It’s great that our church is now fully accessible. These new facilities have already made life easier for people who come to our church. It was wonderful to welcome Archdeacon Rachel on what was a memorable day, as we celebrated our vision for the future.”
St John’s has raised its own money for the project. The church is also grateful for grants received from The Barbour Foundation, Partners In Community Action (PICA), the Victor Mann Trust, RW Mann Trust, and The Northumbria Historic Churches Trust.
The next stage of the project will lead to a new servery area at the back of the church - to replace the building’s outdated kitchen. Plans are being drawn up and potential avenues of funding are being explored.
At present, St John’s offers a regular Care for a Cuppa event, which is open to the community and invites people inside for hot drinks and light refreshments.
But the church wants to be able to provide a warm hub - to offer meals and other services for people who need support. A new, fully equipped servery would enable such initiatives to take place.
“Our existing kitchen is very old and is in the wrong location,” said Heather. “We’re very limited as to what we can do, but a new servery would enable us to cook on site because we want to provide meals for those who need them.
“It’s not just church - it’s what church can do for our community. Perhaps we can complement Care for a Cuppa with some sort of lunchtime event where food can be prepared on site.”
Other outreach work at St John’s includes members visiting a local care home to enable worship.
The project is part of a long-term vision. The first part of this was realised almost a decade ago, when the pews were taken out to create a social space inside the church.
“We are a very active church,” said Heather. “We are reaching out into the community and have done a leaflet drop as well as trying to reach people via word of mouth. As a church we want people to know we are here.”
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