Bethel works live up to their billing
Just like the famous TV advert, a project to redevelop a Barry Baptist Church has done exactly what it said on the tin!
“We billed the scheme to improve our church as ‘Bethel Baptist Access For All’,” said a smiling Yvonne Thomas.
“And we think the project has lived up to its billing. We set ourselves firm targets for what we wanted to achieve and the project has done exactly what we set out to do on the tin!”
“Our aim was to create a Baptist church with access for all and we think we’ve done just that.”
The ‘tin’ in this particular case was the grant application form Mrs Thomas filled out for CFAP – the Welsh Assembly Government’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
The application netted the church £240,000 and the money has been used wisely to carry out improvements which will allow the whole building to develop as a multi-purpose community centre. They key element in the improvements has been a new entrance which links the old church with a redeveloped semi-detached house.
“Looking at the project now, it is hard to believe what it looked like before,” said Mrs Thomas. “There was an existing semi-detached building next door and an alleyway in between. What we have done is bridge the gap, convert the semi-detached into a multi-purpose room and establish a brand new entrance which also incorporates a lift access to all floors.”
The project bridges the gap between the old red brick house and the church building with some style.
Mrs Thomas said. “We are all very proud about the way the work has been done by Dave Brown and his Buildex Construction team. It is no surprise to anyone involved in the project that it is in the running for some building awards.”
Mrs Thomas said church members had raised a substantial sum of money to help complete other works at the church which were not covered by the Welsh Assembly Government grant money.
“We have works to the interior of the main building to carry out, but the key to the project has been the ‘Bethel Baptist Access For All’ idea as that has enabled us to provide easy links to our new meeting room, the main church and the basement schoolroom.
“Already we are seeing the benefits of what we are doing here – the other day we even staged a wedding in our new meeting room.
“We have a youth club catering for between 60 and 70 youngsters, we have mother and toddler groups and plenty of other activities, from ladies keep fit to coffee mornings and evenings with guest speakers.”
The church can date its origins on the site back to 1895, but Mrs Thomas stressed Bethel had no intention of just being an historical symbol in Barry.
“We see ourselves being a very big part of the community in Barry. Our work involves not just this building, but extends out into the community at large.
“We are very involved with schools such as Romilly and are keen to develop as many links as we can with the community.
“The new works at the chapel have been a bridge between two buildings and we see ourselves as a bridge to the community.
“Yes, we encourage people to come to church (and there are a great many reasons for people to come to Bethel), but we also extend our friendship out there in the community in Barry.
“The help the Welsh Assembly Government has given us has been invaluable in helping us achieve an open door philosophy here at Bethel, where everyone, no matter how mobile they are, can gain access to the great facilities we are developing here.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. A total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly Government’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ
Weblink: http://www.bethelbarry.org
Tower of strength: Assistant pastor at Bethel Matt Emerton and church deacon John Thomas join builder Dave Brown, of Buildex Construction, to inspect the new entrance foyer and lift tower at Bethel.
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
“We billed the scheme to improve our church as ‘Bethel Baptist Access For All’,” said a smiling Yvonne Thomas.
“And we think the project has lived up to its billing. We set ourselves firm targets for what we wanted to achieve and the project has done exactly what we set out to do on the tin!”
“Our aim was to create a Baptist church with access for all and we think we’ve done just that.”
The ‘tin’ in this particular case was the grant application form Mrs Thomas filled out for CFAP – the Welsh Assembly Government’s Community Facilities and Activities Programme.
The application netted the church £240,000 and the money has been used wisely to carry out improvements which will allow the whole building to develop as a multi-purpose community centre. They key element in the improvements has been a new entrance which links the old church with a redeveloped semi-detached house.
“Looking at the project now, it is hard to believe what it looked like before,” said Mrs Thomas. “There was an existing semi-detached building next door and an alleyway in between. What we have done is bridge the gap, convert the semi-detached into a multi-purpose room and establish a brand new entrance which also incorporates a lift access to all floors.”
The project bridges the gap between the old red brick house and the church building with some style.
Mrs Thomas said. “We are all very proud about the way the work has been done by Dave Brown and his Buildex Construction team. It is no surprise to anyone involved in the project that it is in the running for some building awards.”
Mrs Thomas said church members had raised a substantial sum of money to help complete other works at the church which were not covered by the Welsh Assembly Government grant money.
“We have works to the interior of the main building to carry out, but the key to the project has been the ‘Bethel Baptist Access For All’ idea as that has enabled us to provide easy links to our new meeting room, the main church and the basement schoolroom.
“Already we are seeing the benefits of what we are doing here – the other day we even staged a wedding in our new meeting room.
“We have a youth club catering for between 60 and 70 youngsters, we have mother and toddler groups and plenty of other activities, from ladies keep fit to coffee mornings and evenings with guest speakers.”
The church can date its origins on the site back to 1895, but Mrs Thomas stressed Bethel had no intention of just being an historical symbol in Barry.
“We see ourselves being a very big part of the community in Barry. Our work involves not just this building, but extends out into the community at large.
“We are very involved with schools such as Romilly and are keen to develop as many links as we can with the community.
“The new works at the chapel have been a bridge between two buildings and we see ourselves as a bridge to the community.
“Yes, we encourage people to come to church (and there are a great many reasons for people to come to Bethel), but we also extend our friendship out there in the community in Barry.
“The help the Welsh Assembly Government has given us has been invaluable in helping us achieve an open door philosophy here at Bethel, where everyone, no matter how mobile they are, can gain access to the great facilities we are developing here.”
CFAP - The Community Facilities and Activities Programme is a grant scheme operated by the Welsh Assembly Government to help community or voluntary organisations provide facilities or carry out activities which will promote the regeneration of communities. Since its launch in 2002 CFAP has proved to be a highly successful grant programme. A total of £64 million has been awarded to 660 projects across the length and breadth of Wales.
Projects have included the refurbishment of church and village halls, work to make community properties accessible to the disabled, buying part of a former airfield for community use and restoring historic buildings for community use.
The CFAP is run from The Welsh Assembly Government’s Merthyr Tydfil office - Communities Facilities and Activities Programme (CFAP), Communities Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government, Merthyr Tydfil Office, Rhydycar, Merthyr Tydfil, CF48 1UZ
Weblink: http://www.bethelbarry.org
Tower of strength: Assistant pastor at Bethel Matt Emerton and church deacon John Thomas join builder Dave Brown, of Buildex Construction, to inspect the new entrance foyer and lift tower at Bethel.
Press release issued by Robert Lloyd on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government.
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