What will St John's look like when transformed?

It's hard to imagine what St Johns' will look like - we're so used to seeing it as it is. Read on and you'll see some images which are easier to 'see' than reading off plans

What will it look like?

        Here is the building organised for Sunday worship, for weddings and funerals etc

    A fantastic exhibition space

   A very adaptable space for school visits, for children's events, for film shows and more

   There will be  a servery with space for refreshments (and toilets - the green doors to left of picture)

   looking towards the back of the building, you can see how flexible the space will be with  servery and again the toilets

    Coming into church through the open doors - which will be glass doors

    Looking towards the church entrance through the new glass doors

Our aim: a beating heart into the future

• A warm and welcoming space with servery and toilet facilities.
• A flexible space for 21^st century worship for all ages
• A space for local societies to meet, including dancing and quiet indoor sports.
•  A safe environment for children’s activities.
• Open door for people with additional physical needs.
• A good venue for school end of term services and events
• Availability to gather for refreshments after christenings, funerals and weddings.
• Provide a venue for the Post Office.
• A comfortable setting for concerts, exhibitions and film shows
• A space conducive to teaching and learning workshops
• An open door to meet the needs of those enjoying the National Forest
• Somewhere to hold fund raising events.

Our Vision

  Ours is an ambitious project to use St John’s Church to provide not only spiritual sustenance but also be available for use for the benefit of many. After huge amounts of work and effort we have permission to develop the interior of St John’s while maintaining externally the historical integrity of a building which has existed since the 1800s.

The vision we have held since the closure of the church hall in 2007 is to provide an exciting new space available for all to use. This project can benefit the community in so many ways: the school, community groups and so much more. The hall is remembered by many as being at the heart of the community: the place where dances brought couples together and where celebrations and events took place. This project aims to create a new space to create new memories.

It has been a long haul to negotiate the legal pathway to develop the church beyond use solely for a worship space. The future is an innovative space which will permit many uses and benefit a wide range of people.

The Challenge

We are already halfway to our target and need to raise approximately £250,000 to complete the work, hopefully within the next 12-18 months. Can you help?