St. Martin's Parish Centre, Preston

St Martin’s Parish Hall complex in Preston closed its doors in September 2019, because of spiralling energy costs and an unaffordable bill for refurbishment required to meet building safety standards. Many community groups used the hall but income from hiring the rooms was barely covering running costs, let alone the extensive repairs that needed doing.

The church set up a small project team, headed up by Andrea Titterington, a retired housing professional who was on the PCC. They decided to build a new chapel and fit-for-purpose community space, in partnership with a local housing association who would buy most of the land and build 14 affordable homes for older residents.

The same building company constructed both the new parish hall and the houses on the site in one coordinated and cost-effective project.

The PCC had already raised some funds for the refurbishment of the parish centre, to which they added the revenue from selling a curate’s house and the land for the affordable homes to the housing association; they received two other grants and some support from the diocese.

It would have been quicker and easier for the PCC to sell off the whole site, but they didn’t want to lose a valued community asset, nor the worship space and their visible presence in that part of the town. Thanks to the vision and hard work of Andrea Titterington and her team, the outcome for the parish is a new worship space and parish office, fit-for-purpose community meeting rooms and much needed housing for older local people.

The work is completed, the new residents have moved in and the new chapel and community centre was opened by the Bishop of Blackburn in September.