About the Organisation
St Nicholas Church is a Grade 2 listed building and is primarily used for services, baptisms, weddings and funerals.
Along with this they help provide a range of services for their community and schools including a weekly subsided toddler group- enabling parents to make friends and find support. They also work with statutory agencies that signpost to their services, and link with schools prior to entry. It is Church run but outward facing and inclusive.
The adjacent Church Centre hosts the Swallows charity (for adults with severe learning difficulties) who run a café Monday-Friday open to the public. They also have a meeting room which is used by the local MIND group, Radstock Knitters and various others. Additionally, they also host the Somerset Food Bank -which operates every Wednesday and stores most of their goods in a dedicated room.
Request details:
The Parish Church Council are responsible for the buildings, but the Churches Centre is an old ex-school canteen and well past its expected life.
St Nicholas have recently secured approval to sell land adjacent to the Church (basketball court, Church Centre, and large field) and plan to put the income towards the renovation and development costs of the Church. They need feasible options to consider in detail with the local community which would meet their needs, whilst also making the Church a viable community centre and place of worship. They would still like to include a café, meeting rooms and the food bank.
They would greatly appreciate design/architectural advice at this early stage to explore the potential the Church building has for worshippers and the wider community.
Some key considerations for renovation are to keep the original features of the building, while exploring building a mezzanine floor as well as increasing the number of toilets and improving the kitchen area.
Timeline
Ideally before September 2024