Melton Vineyard Church has started an exciting refurbishment project, transforming the former Baptist Chapel on Nottingham Street which has been vacant for several years, into a new Hope Centre that will serve the community.
The refurbishment, which is being delivered by contractors Woodhead Group, will give the church a visible and modern presence in the heart of the community.
Funding has been secured through generous donations from Church members, the Samworth Foundation and Trent Vineyard. The project was procured through Scape Venture, which is designed to ensure that privately funded projects deliver positive community impact and value for money.
Architects, Artistic Industries, interior designers, Hookway Design, Pick Everard, structural engineers and Ridge, principal designer (CDM) have been working to develop a space that is flexible and welcoming, with community rooms on the ground floor and The Loft above. The Loft will be a fully accessible space with a new lift to provide a dynamic venue for toddler groups, events, functions and performances.
The revamped building will also provide a new home for Storehouse, Melton’s only food bank, which offers food, clothing, bedding and baby equipment to those in need and a place for people to meet.
Moving the service from its current venue at the Fox Inn to the heart of the high street will more than double its size and capacity and enable it to offer enhanced facilities, such as a shower for rough sleepers.
Melton Vineyard aims to offer a wide range of services from the newly-refurbished building, which will incorporate confidential counselling rooms for their recently established listening service, Breathing Space.
Discussing the project, Neal Swettenham, of Melton Vineyard Church said: “We are incredibly grateful for these gifts, which have made the project possible and we are looking forward to opening the centre later this year.”
Tom Woodhead, businesses services director at Woodhead Group commented: “Projects like this are a great fit for frameworks. We have been working collaboratively with the team using innovative technology to investigate the fabric of the building by conducting a drone survey of the roof to save scaffolding costs and working to find solutions that best fit within the budget.”
Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive also commented: “The Melton Vineyard Church refurbishment illustrates perfectly the benefits of the Scape Venture framework. By bringing together the very best of public and private procurement expertise this fantastic community initiative will be delivered with certainty and efficiency.”
The Hope Centre is planning to open its doors to the public in October 2019.