A rural church near Whitley Bay has hosted a special celebration to mark the completion of a five-year project to provide new facilities.
Affectionately known as ‘The Netty Project’, the ambitious scheme has brought much-needed ramped access to St Alban’s, Earsdon, as well as two toilets (one of them fully accessible), baby change facilities, a simplified entrance, welcome area and kitchen.
The church, which dates back to 1837, also has a new media room to assist with the live streaming of services.
A special service took place on Sunday 12 January, when the congregation gathered while church member Helen Jackman, who originally came up with ‘The Netty Project’ name, performed a ceremonial flushing of the new toilets to cheers and applause.
The Revd Tim Mayfield, vicar of St Alban’s said: “Geordies call toilets ‘the netty’. St Alban’s had never had toilets. So when Helen jokingly called it ‘The Netty Project’ the name stuck. The project has done exactly as we hoped, making St Alban’s a much improved base for mission.
“A few days before the grand opening, we had a busy baptism. It was lovely to see buggies rolling smoothly up the beautiful ramp, which replaced the previous two-step access. During this service, young families came and went to the netty and used the baby-change facilities. Above the font is a beautiful ‘halo’ lighting. It was special to stand under that for the baptism.”
Tim said the church’s decision to turn around two pews, creating a welcome area at the back of church, proved popular as it provided space for parents to park buggies and feed babies before the service.
Architect Tristan Spicer of Doonan Architects in Hexham drew St Alban’s nine increasingly ambitious schemes. Earsdon Treasurer Rob Swindells held out for the most ambitious of these, which was built by Northern Construction Solutions (NCS) Ltd, of Durham.
Tristan, and project manager Gary Singleton of NCS joined the St Alban’s congregation for the big opening.
St Alban’s Netty Project was paid for by legacies and a gift day at the church, fund-raising and grants. Transforming Communities Together (TCT) kindly granted £4,000. However, funding dried up and the project stalled. Then in August 2024 the National Heritage Lottery rode to the rescue with a game-changing grant of over £50,000. Work then commenced on 23 September 2024.
