A Bradford community centre which runs courses and activities throughout the year is launching an appeal on Wednesday March 1st to raise £60,000 to warm up the hundreds of people who regularly use it each week.
The Shine community project is based at St Stephens Church in the heart of West Bowling, Bradford. The large Victorian building is currently without heating but each week runs exercise classes, jobs search clubs, arts and crafts classes, refugee welcome groups and much more for more than 250 people - as well as worship for a young and growing church family.
The Warm the Heart Appeal launched on March 1st aims to raise £60,000 in 90 days (from March 1st to May 29th) in order to insulate and build a new floor to the church. Already the church has been offered a significant investment by the Juice Fund of Npower of an environmentally friendly biomass boiler and underfloor heating but this can only go ahead if a new floor can also be added.
Sarah Hinton, Shine Project Manager, said, “We have been working to restore the building to make it a usable building to as many people in the area as possible. We know that in the last 157 years that St Stephens has been a very special place to many people and we want that to be on going for another 150 years.
“Our focus is on people; but getting new heating and a new floor is essential for us to work with more people throughout the year as at present we have no heating in much of the space so cannot use it for half of the year.”
Fund raising plans to be unveiled at the launch event on March 1st 4.30pm at St Stephen’s West Bowling, include comedy nights, concerts, a new website, a tandem ride by Sarah Hinton and husband, Priest in charge of St Stephen’s , the Revd Jimmy Hinton, to London and back, quiz nights, football tournaments, a 24hour snooker-thon, a jumble sale, an African fashion show, print making and stained glass workshops – many of which will be demonstrated at the Launch Event.
Donations are welcome through the website www.warmtheheart.co.uk Donors are invited to buy 1sq. ft. of floor for £30 online.
Find out more on www.warmtheheart.co.uk, www.ststephensbd5.org.uk or email, info@shinewestbowling.org.uk