Phase 3 Completes
26/11/07
The stunning architecture of the Bradbury Suite, created on the third floor of the phase 3 Community Facilities in November 2007.
A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT
This autumn the third phase of the St. Cuthbert’s church reordering project completed with the opening of the Church and Community rooms in the centre section of the church building.
The new facilities include early years facilities on the ground floor, four small and one large meeting room on the second floor and a large “dome shaped” square hall on the third floor. The first floor is just a shell at present which will be fitted out to suit the requirements a permanent user in due course.
We are grateful to Habens The Builder Ltd. from Portsmouth, the prime contractor for Phase 3 who has made a splendid job of the new Community Facilities. We are grateful to the following grant making bodies that have supported this phase of the project including:
The Big Lottery, British Legion, Bradbury Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, The Veolia Environmental Trust, Rank Foundation, Beatrice Lang Trust, Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation as well as a number of smaller grants and individual donations.
With the opening of the new Church and Community rooms the Corner Pre-school Playgroup, who have met in St. Cuthbert’s hall for many years, will move into purpose built premises on the ground floor of the building with a new dedicated outdoor play area.
This will begin the creation of a Children’s Centre in association with the Baffins Surgery and other agencies who will support and enhance family life in our area. Our vision of opening up and sharing our vast church building with the local community is beginning to be realised. Spaces which stood empty for most of the time will now be used and enjoyed every day of the week.
The new facilities will complement the Baffins Surgery and the St. Cuthbert’s Centre Hall (Phase 1) which opened in the church building in the spring of 2005.
November 2006 saw the completion of Lindisfarne Court a development of nine flats by Portsmouth Housing Association (Phase 2) on the site of the former St. Cuthbert’s Church hall in Hayling Avenue. These first two phases have made a huge contribution to the health and well-being of our community.
This is a tremendous achievement: we have now generated 90% of the £4.2million to complete unique and widely acclaimed church project.