Background
Pickering Methodist Church has served the spiritual and community needs of the area for generations. Whilst acknowledging a long and proud history and traditions which have served us well in the past, we need to explore new ways of serving the ever increasing needs of the community. We are interacting more with the community; encouraging and building links with local organisations both outside and within our buildings. We currently provide space and facilities for a daily playgroup, the Ryedale Food Bank, Rainbows, Brownies and Guides and many others.
As the town grows so does the demand on community space. Our building is now being used to capacity and we are increasingly having to turn down requests for venue space. Because of the current design of the main hall, kitchen and meeting room we can only hold one event at a time.
In 2015 we embarked upon an ambitious project to completely redesign and rebuild the rear of the building. Our plan is to completely redesign the non-worship area to provide a modern standard of facility built to an improved specification. New toilets will provide disabled access and meet “safe care” standards. There will be a separate meeting room which, with improved circulation space, will allow simultaneous use with the main hall.
We are involving the whole community in raising funds for our project. We have held various concerts involving local groups, plant sales, Christmas Fayre, book sales etc. In addition to our ongoing local fundraising efforts. By doing this we hope to further raise the profile of the church locally and we trust that many of the people who come along will start attending services again.
Our aim is to develop a space in which all the people of Pickering will feel keen to share with us. By providing more space for more occasions we will be able to get more people through our doors. We want all sections of the community to benefit and it is wonderful to see some of this already happening at some of the fundraising events where friends have reunited after many years.
Fundraising
We are delighted to announce that in a little over 3 years we have reached sufficient funding to authorise the building work to commence. We will still need to raise funds to allow us to purchase certain fixtures and fittings.
To view progress on the building work click here….
This project will benefit the whole community – please do what you can to help us make it a reality. To volunteer please contact us on pickeringmethodistchurch@gmail.com
The photo below is from the Gazette and Herald in November – you can read the full article at:
https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/news/17194925.final-push-to-make-pickering-methodist-church-project-a-reality/