Kitchen and Community Room refurbishment

We’re raising funds for the refurbishment of the Kitchen and Community Room

Our Church building serves as a sacred gathering place for communities, playing a pivotal role in fostering spirituality, unity, and shared heritage. As such, preserving and updating  these spaces, requires regular input and care.

For over 18 months, St Mark’s PCC along with the Estates Management Team and Environment Team have been looking out how we use our building and space to add value to our church family life. The church underwent major and internal
modernisation (re-ordering) in 1997 which met the needs of the church at the time.  

Twenty five years on, as we continue to grow, we want to ensure the building evolves too, is fit for purpose, meets modern day standards and remains a welcoming and inclusive space for every generation.

Kitchen

  • The kitchen now requires some updates to adhere to modern standards and latest building regulations.
  • The current layout and equipment are restrictive and require improvement to allow us to host larger catered events.
  • Some of the kitchen base units and draws are broken and beyond repair.

We will:

  • Replace base units with stainless steel, wall units, the floor and ceiling, and extractor fan.
  • Reconfigure the kitchen into working ‘zones’ to improve safety and flow.
  • Replace the cooker.

Community Room

  • Feedback from our church family has informed us that: 
  • The entrance is unwelcoming – from outside the church, the inside lights look turned off.
  • Interior light levels do not meet recommended levels and visual requirements for meeting rooms – it’s dark and not uplifting.
  • Light quality is poor and insufficient for our diverse range of activities such as painting and craft, where colour differentiation matters.
  • The décor does not reflect light very well.
  • The carpet is in need of updating.
  • Sound can be problematic for hearing impaired people – echo increases when full.
  • Signage and information posters look unclear.

We will:

  • Over-clad the current ceiling and install new lighting to create a bright, welcoming and uplifting environment with better acoustics.
  • Zone the lights to either lead people towards the main worship space or evenly light the whole room, as required.
  • Replace the carpet.
  • Redecorate and replace signage.
  • Remove the unused cupboards behind the spiral stairs so the space can be used by the office.

Connecting the Kitchen & Community Room

  • It’s difficult to hear between the serving hatches restricting the flow of communication and conversation.

  • For children and wheelchair users the counter is inaccessible and they cannot be seen or heard properly.

  • Users block other users (on both sides), so conversation and relationship building through the hatch is brief.

  • Queue congestion increases H&S risks 

    We will:

  • Create a direct access door so the two rooms function as one.

  • Create a new split level serving bar in the community room to provides easier access and communication.

  • N.B Compromise: The Community Room capacity will be reduced slightly – possibly by 2 tables for seated events.

How much are we looking to raise?
Gifts in kind worth £10,000 have already been received. A sum of £4,000 has been given for the dishwasher and £10,000 from another fund.

We now need to raise the remaining £70,000 to complete the project. 

HOW TO DONATE

Give by BACs

Account Name:
St Mark’s PCC Harrogate 

Account Number:
00024458

Account Sort Code:
40-52-40

Ref: Kitchen Project

Give by card, cash or cheque

Tap to give via the contactless machine in church or post cash/cheques through the slot in an envelope labelled ‘Kitchen Project’. Make cheques payable to:
St Mark’s PCC Harrogate

Give online

If you would like to make a one-off donation you can give online using our secure online giving platform, Give A Little.

Gift Aid

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