A north-east church is celebrating news that it has received a funding boost of £60,000 to provide better access to its youngsters and elderly.
Peterhead’s Apex Church had applied to SITA Trust for the funding in the spring after finding that poor access to its recently refurbished halls and rooms had been causing an issue for some church-goers.
The grant money will now go towards addressing these problems. Access to the building’s internal stairway is currently only reachable by travelling through the kitchen area or using an alternate entry point.
To improve the building, the £60,000 – the largest amount available from the trust – will be used for the installation of an elevator within the church for the benefit of all users.
Assistant pastor Daniel Sutherland said he was grateful for the support of the trust.
“Their support has made this project possible and will improve accessibility for community users who visit our building,” he added.
In a series of improvements already undertaken by the buoyant group, the upper section of the town-centre church had been renovated to a standard suitable for a huge range of functions including meetings, clubs and conferences. The lower hall and kitchen area were also recently refurbished and used daily.
The communications manager at SITA Trust, Jools Granville, explained that the ethical funding organisation was delighted to be able to provide financial help and was looking forward to helping more local groups in the future.
She said last night: “What made the application stand out to SITA Trust, and caused us to award the largest possible grant available was the support shown for this project by the wider community of Peterhead.
“We’re looking forward to seeing applications from a number of other local groups in the near future.”