Saturday 11th June 2011 and I attended an open morning at st Peter's church right in the middle of the Silver Link loop. This building is now 7 years old and is not only place of worship but also a set of community rooms both small and large.
The open day kicked off with a display from the Dance group that uses St Peters and we were treated to ballet displays and street dance displays, through out the day the fire service had an appliance on show and there were many other activities such as face painting and origami to get stuck into. There was a great sense of community and a sense of worth.
What I felt was clearly on display was that whilst anew big building may be a catalyst to changes a community facility can not become that purely by having a new building it's the people that make it a community facility. There are a number of groups who use the church which may otherwise be empty or closed during those hours. these groups are sometime small groups of interested people who meet in a relatively informal environment whilst others are structured classes like the dancers or Zumba groups. But if it wasn't for the drive of individuals these groups would not exist.
I was told the prior to the church being built the old community centre only had one group using it now there is something going on most mornings and evening at st peters church so the building has given an opportunity to do something that wasn't there before but the people the ones that make it happen. I got a real sense of that when I visited. the sense of community was certainly healthy and reaching into the area. A great success for all involved.
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