New Year sees the start of work to modernise Newtown Church

A major refurbishment project to modernise a church in Newton will get underway in the New Year after funding was secured.

More than £450,000 has been raised in grants and fund-raising by the congregation of All Saints Church to carry out essential repairs and upgrade the heating, flooring, toilet and kitchen facilities.

The church will remain open for the Christmas celebrations and then be closed for almost a year, with worship taking place in nearby Ysgol Calon y Dderwen (Junior).

The Rector of All Saints, Canon Nia Wyn-Morris said: “This project has been more than ten years in the planning, so I’m delighted that work will get underway in the new year. The church building is in desperate need of improvement so that we can offer better hospitality to the people of the town. The renovations will allow us to re-open our toddler group, provide facilities for people experiencing homelessness as well as offering a more comfortable place to worship.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve found new ways to reach people and serve the community. The cooking and delivery of Sunday lunches, which started as a response to the lockdown, continues. A dedicated team is cooking more than 80 Sunday roasts every fortnight, and this will continue unaffected by the building work at the church.”

Local contractor, Philip Jones Builders based on Dolafon Road in Newtown will carry out the work at All Saints Church. It will include repairs to the windows, the removal of the organ and chancel [the choir area] furniture and a new stone floor laid with underfloor heating in the main body of the church.  A small extension to the church will be replaced by a larger space offering more toilets, a shower, a bigger kitchen and a meeting room. The current vestry will be converted into an office.

All the necessary church and local authority consents are in place for work to begin. Funding for the project has come from the following grant providers and organisations:

• Diocese of St Asaph: £71,000
• Garfield Weston Foundation: £30,000
• National Churches Trust: £10,000
• Community Facilities Programme: £25,000
• James Pantyfedwen Foundation: £8,000
• All Churches Trust: £6,000
• Hodge Foundation: £5,000
• Powys Welsh Church Act: £5,000

Nia added: “Thank you to everyone who is supporting this project. Thank you to God for blessing us with these gifts to further His work in our community.”

All Saints Church is part of the Cedewain Mission Area in the Diocese of St Asaph, one of the six dioceses in the Church in Wales.