Church seeks grant for "bridge of love" (From Barry And District News)

Church seeks grant for "bridge of love"

A BARRY church is seeking a grant of half a million pounds to construct a "bridge of love and concern" between itself and the surrounding community.

The Reverend Selwyn Morgan, of Bethel Baptist Church on Harbour Road, has applied to the Welsh Assembly's Community Facilities and Activities Programme for the money to build a link building between the main church and the church house.

This building will house a lift, which will facilitate access to all levels.

The church is currently inaccessible to people in wheelchairs, the elderly and parents with youngsters in pushchairs, because, said Mr Morgan, "everywhere is up the steps and down the steps".

The semi-retired reverend, who has been at the Barry church since 1990, said: "With the increasingly elderly congregation, and so many mums attending the mums and toddlers group, access to the church is becoming a real problem."

A survey was recently carried out by the church where people in the locality were asked what they thought about the church.

Mr Morgan described people's comments as "touching".

"We want to have a building that is welcoming to the community," he added.

"We want to build bridges of love and concern to our neighbours.

"We want to do as much as we can to make the place somewhere people can access all the time."

The renovations are due to take place in two stages. The first will see the construction of the link building and the second will involve improvements to the inside of the church and the church house, such as the installation of a multi-use stage and the removal of pews.

Mr Morgan said the church intends to "put out the tenders" for the major project in January, and "get going" in the spring.

Vale MP John Smith visited Mr Morgan and the church's pastoral leader, the Reverend Mervyn Neal, and pledged his support for the plans.

Mr Smith said: "Bethel Baptist Church provides a wide range of activities for the local community, such as parent/carer and toddler groups, junior clubs, coffee mornings for senior citizens and keep fit classes.