At long last, after seemingly endless months of red tape and form filling, work on the fitting out of the new kitchen at the Methodist Chapel is now underway. This brings the Chapel's redevelopment plans, a major update of the premises that began back in November 2024, that much closer to fruition.

Tim Abel, senior church steward, said “It has been a very long, frustrating time but hopefully in four to six weeks the kitchen, second toilet and doors changed to comply with fire regulations will be complete and this phase of the project will be finished and we will rejoice in a new kitchen”.

It will not, unfortunately, be finished before the ever popular annual village event “Yorkshire Lunch” (tickets now all sold), which takes place on Yorkshire Day, Friday August 1st, but this website has been categorically assured everything will go ahead. We don't doubt it, a lack of a kitchen has never proved any obstacle whatsoever to members.

It was at the very end of last year that members received the exciting news that a substantial grant from the FCC Fund had been received for Phase Two of the Chapel's Redevelopment Project, the fitting of a new kitchen and second toilet. This resulted in a spontaneous round of applause at Sunday Service when the news was passed onto members of the congregation. The criteria for receipt of that money has now been finally satisfied and the funds made available to allow work to start.

The FCC Fund provides grants to not-for-profit organisations for amenity projects sited within 10 miles of an eligible FCC Environment waste facility. Bishop Monkton qualifies in that it is 9.1 miles away from the Waste Recovery Park at Allerton Park managed by FCC Environment (UK) Limited one of the country’s leading waste management operators. This Fund is a continuation of the old landfill grant, originally started to compensate for the negative impacts of landfill sites on surrounding communities and the environment.

After the kitchen refit is completed it is anticipated that work to create a new porch can begin to take advantage of the late summer/early Autumn weather.