Church in £250,000 appeal to Lottery

ST MARYS Church in Melton has applied for 250,000 Lottery cash to turn the former Thrifty shop in Burton Street into a community centre.The shop was bought in March after owners Coats Viyella pulled out of the UK clothes market, and members of St Marys now hope to raise 500,000 to refurbish the building and use it as a multi-purpose venue.Plans for the two floor, 6,000sq ft building went on display last week in the shop window, and team rector the Rev Charles Jenkin said they had caused a lot of interest.He said: "We just decided to use the shop frontage to raise the profile."Lots of people have stopped to look at it."They are quite detailed plans for the way we want to refurbish the place."The project includes fully-equipped administration offices, a practice area for choirs and group rehearsals, a coffee bar, creche and toilet facilities.Mr Jenkin also wants to set up an education room for visiting schools.He said: "School groups visiting Melton will have a place to study the church as well as the town centre."We have had very positive feedback about that." More bids are being made to a variety of trusts and the outcome of these and the Lottery bid should be known by March. There are also plans for minor work to be done on the church itself and Mr Jenkin hopes a public collection launched soon will be successful.He added: "It is very exciting. We have been thinking about a project like this for four or five years, and then this place came up on the market. It is very important for the future of St Marys."It is good to have the facilities for the town centre and one of the great advantages is it is on the right side of the road."There is a need for town centre churches to go for a place like this so they can operate in the modern world."Mr Jenkin hopes the work can be start in the summer and finish in time for next Christmas.