WORK ON THE CHURCH BEGINS AT LAST! - By Julie Minter

02/09/11

Work has finally started on fitting the final piece of a mammoth £4.5m rebuilding puzzle at a Portsmouth church.

Over the last 12 years much of the original St Cuthbert’s Church building in Copnor has been transformed into a thriving community facility, incorporating a GPs’ surgery, community rooms, Surestart children’s centre and an education centre for adults with learning disabilities.

Now the community phase is complete the focus is switching to the worship area at the west end of the church.

Work began at the end of August to drill out the existing concrete floor and fit under floor heating, before laying a new tiled floor to compliment the original mosaic. New heating, lighting, electrics and a sound system will also be installed, and space created for a new vestry. We are also having a new font and Mel Howes, a nationally-renowned artist, has been asked to submit a design for a Font for the Place of Worship.

Future plans also include be a new entrance to the worship area in Lichfield Road, a walkway to link it to the community centre, a new reception area, a kitchen and a disabled toilet, subject to successful fundraising.

The current works come with a price tag of around £235,000, which has largely been paid for through fundraising and one-off donations from church members themselves.

Once the works are complete, hopefully before Christmas, the congregation will be able to hold services in the church itself after an absence since late 2003. Since 2008 they have met in one of the community rooms created inside the building.

The vicar, the Revd David Power, said:

“It is exciting. There is a sense of great joy and anticipation amongst the church and the wider community.
I am very much hoping that the worship area will be the spiritual beating heart of the whole project. We’re excited about having it open for everyone, and look forward to welcoming all who wish to use it, both on Sundays and on other days of the week.
When we started, the building was open for just five or six hours a week but now it is open for more than 70 hours a week, with upwards of 2,000 people coming over the threshold each week, which is fantastic.”

To support the project, please contact David on 02392 827071, email davidmpower@ntlworld.com or write to 2 Lichfield Road, Portsmouth, PO3 6DE.