Brunswick Refurb Project - the Story So Far
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For a number of years now the Brunswick Estate has been undergoing a major refurbishing and rebuilding programme via a Private Finance Initiative. The first part of this took place several years ago with the building of a brand new health centre and the rebuilding of Medlock School. The recession delayed the next stage, but that is now in full swing – though the Covid pandemic has further slowed progress – with parts of the estate being redesigned, new houses built, others demolished, and others being refurbished.
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This of course has pastoral and other implications and as a church we have been deeply involved in the whole planning and consultation processes. We have also been able to help individuals and families as they cope with moving, losing neighbours, having parts of their houses knocked down and the general dust and change. Early in the process a major consultation was done with local people and Brunswick Church came out of it very favourably with a high approval rating, making our building in many ways the heart of the local community.
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A changing skyline with a new care centre where the row of shops (and the chippy!) used to be.
With that in mind, and with our building showing more than a little wear and tear from over 40 years extensive daily use by church, community and other organisations, we felt it was time for some refurbishment and improvement alongside that happening around us. A ‘Refurb’ group, including church members and representatives from other groups such as Manchester Diocese and S4B (the PFI company) was formed to oversee this process.
We began by doing our own survey of what local people wanted from this building and this led to a number of ideas. One of these - solar panels - was completed in 2016. A priority from the survey was to make the building warmer and less draughty and the first stage of work on heating and insulation was completed in late 2017. We have since appointed architects to help us with the next stages, and launched what we are calling 'Phase One' in April 2018. About a period of fund-raising work began in May 2021 and was completed in October. We have also begun a Church Community Garden, part of Phase Two.
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Future phases of this project still need support and resourcing. This could be gifts or skills 'in kind', or financial help and, for those who do, prayer. How much we can do will depend on how much we can raise. Our building is a great resource for this community and we'd like to see it continue to be so. If you would like to know more or help, please get in touch or download our Refurb leaflet. To support Refurb please use this form. Read more about the thinking and theology behind Refurb here.
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