A York Parish Church has been awarded a grant of £10,000 by Allchurches Trust to support the transformation of its community facilities and accessibility of its buildings.
St Luke the Evangelist serves a parish of 5,000 residents and includes areas of significant economic and social deprivation; the church’s current hall is widely used by and for the local community, but it is life-expired and falls well short of acceptable standards of accessibility. St Luke’s Community Hub Project will replace the hall and improve the accessibility and flexibility of the church building in support of the church’s missional and social purposes.
Churchwarden Colette Longbottom, said: “St Luke’s Community Hub is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to renew the church’s offer and welcome to people who come here for faith, friendship or support, to celebrate and learn, to meet old friends and new ones too.
“Our grant from Allchurches Trust will help make both our existing church building and the new hub building next door accessible to people of different abilities and needs, and help us to welcome all people, whatever has brought them here.”
Allchurches Trust is one of the UK's largest grant-making charities and gave more than £23 million to churches, charities and communities in 2020. Its funds come from its ownership of Ecclesiastical Insurance Group.
Andrew Bass, Grants Officer for Allchurches Trust, said: “We are very pleased to support St Luke’s outreach through distribution of supermarket surplus food, provision of social spaces and occasions for those who might struggle without them, and its offer of a community space as well as a place of Christian ministry and mission.”
A generous bequest has formed the basis of fundraising for St Luke’s Community Hub and the Allchurches grant adds a welcome boost; additional funding is still needed and can be made securely online at bit.ly/stlukeshubfund or by following the link at the foot of the page at www.stlukesyork.org/hubproject.
The pictures show the present, life-expired church hall in use.
Upper: 'Luke's Larder' distributes supermarket surplus food in the parish each week.
Lower: 'Joyful Connections' offers a café-style social meeting and activity centre to the local community each week.