As the Methodist Chapel redevelopment programme continues to progress, phase by phase, more funding has recently been received, good news received enthusiastically by the congregation at their Sunday morning service recently.

An amount of £20,000 has been awarded by the National Lottery Community Fund, which together with a grant already received from the Garfield Weston Foundation, means that there is now enough money available to build a porch to the left hand side of the chapel, a design included in the original specification. Work is scheduled to start in the Spring.

The National Lottery Community Fund is money raised by National Lottery players and awarded to communities across the UK, helping ensure that every project it supports makes a real difference to people and communities across the UK, allowing them to thrive.

The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family founded, grant giving charity based in the U.K. started in 1958 by a Canadian businessman, that gives money to support a wide range of charities across the country. One of the largest charitable foundations in the world, it donates around £100 million each year and in the U.K. has approved grants worth over £1 billion in total. It supports a wide range of charities that make a positive difference, working in different sectors that include welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith.

As has been reported on this website, the chapel schoolroom is now almost complete and is already open as a welcoming and bright, centrally located meeting space for organisations and private hires in the village. All that remains is for the secondary glazing to be installed.

Work on the chapel itself is ongoing and, with the pews removed, is now a much more open space and will be used by the Keep Fit and Pilates Group while the Village Hall is unavailable for the BBC filming.

Money is already in place for the construction of the new kitchen, second toilet and installation of a heating system. The cost for this is being met by the FCC Community Action fund, a continuation of the old landfill grant, originally started to compensate for the negative impacts of landfill sites on surrounding communities and the environment. It provides grants to not-for-profit organisations for amenity projects sited within 10 miles of an eligible FCC Environment waste facility-in the case of Bishop Monkton, this is the one at Allerton Park. The grant covers the entire cost of this work including the the moving of doorways, flooring, electrical work and painting.

Once the paperwork has been finalised, work will start on the new kitchen immediately and it is anticipated that this will be finished by late Spring, as will the building of the porch.

The final stage of the project is the building of a a shop and cafe on the right hand side of the building. Currently discussions are taking place on the layout of the shop and cafe and this will be submitted for tenders. More funding will then be needed, although additional monies for this final phase have already been promised from the local Methodist Circuit and the Methodist District Property Fund. To make up the balance, further grant options will be explored, as will the possibility of local donations.

This last part, which would be developed in conjunction with Burton Leonard Post Office and Shop, would not be a shop in the traditional sense but would be a valuable addition to the village’s amenities. It could serve as a pick-up point for pre-ordered food and other basics and would be in line with the ambition to make the Chapel a real community asset, Additionally, the chapel would hope to develop its weekly Tuesday coffee morning into a more frequent offer, still run by volunteers, but open several days a week.

It is hoped that this will be completed at some date in August, but as Tim Abel, senior church steward, says “as is always the case, there likely will be some obstacles coming our way to slow us down!”

It has been (and still is) a massive undertaking, with many, many long hours involved in the securing of grants. The hard work is, however, starting to be very much in evidence.