Published: 18 December 2023
We’ve awarded over £350,000 to Methodist churches across the UK and Ireland in the latest round of Methodist Grants.
Benefact Trust’s Methodist Grants Programme is focused on helping Methodist churches and organisations to grow, increase their community engagement, and improve the accessibility of their buildings.
Christmas is around the corner, and what better time to give deserving projects a festive boost. Here’s a few of the latest projects to benefit from our Methodist Grants:
St Mark’s Methodist Church, London
St Mark’s Methodist Church sits in the heart of Tottenham, an area rich in heritage but with high levels of deprivation and crime. Tottenham Central ward is among the 10% most deprived areas in the UK. St Mark’s is responding to local issues through its outreach activity, but it wants to do even more to support the community.
The church is a large, art deco building with tremendous potential to serve as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of the area. It is also a building in urgent need of repair, with significant areas of deteriorating concrete, representing a health and safety risk to passers-by.
A £100,000 Methodist Grant will help to make urgent repairs and modifications to the building so it can become a sanctuary for the local community.
Callington Methodist Church, Cornwall
Callington Methodist Church is ideally located for town-centre mission. However, the current entrance is unwelcoming and gives no indication of what happens inside the building. This creates a barrier for connecting with new people who could benefit from what the church has to offer.
A £29,000 Methodist Grant will help to create a modern, glass entrance to the church and develop the foyer to make it more inviting. The development will also include new accessible toilets, a kitchen area and new meeting spaces.
The project will accommodate the growing activity at the church, including toddler groups, a memory café for people living with dementia and local choirs. It will also enable the church to reach out and help to tackle a range of social issues in the community.
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Lakeside Methodist Church, West Yorkshire
Lakeside Methodist Church is looking to create a vibrant Community Centre to benefit local people and create a stronger connection between the church and the community it serves.
The church has an ideal location next to a country park which attracts tourists and people from the surrounding areas. The Community Centre will provide a hub for art exhibitions, workshops and group activities – showcasing local talent. It will also give people the opportunity to explore their faith in an engaging setting.
£40,000 funding from the Methodist Grants Programme will support the redevelopment project.
Sidford Methodist Church, Devon
Sidford Methodist Church prides itself on its engagement with the community – especially where food is involved. Over the past year, it’s hosted a lunch for the Turkey/Syria earthquake appeal; an afternoon tea for the Ukraine appeal; and monthly breakfasts for local people. The events have been incredibly successful and have boosted community spirit.
A £7,600 Methodist Grant will help to extend and modernise the kitchen so that the church can continue to provide for people both locally and internationally.
*Header Image: Callington Methodist Church choir group
