Hillhouse Church has £250,000 face lift refurbishment

Feb 25 2010 by Sandra Walls, Hamilton Advertiser

THE congregation of Hillhouse Parish Church have raised £170,000 towards the refurbishment of the church halls.

The overall £250,000 target was reached through their own efforts, along with grants and donations from businesses and other organisations.

The building work began last spring to give the halls a makeover and a special service to mark the occasion was held last Sunday.

Four of the members, two from junior church – Sophie Newberry and Marc Spence, and two from senior church – Jean Henderson and Bobby Holmes, took part in the official ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Reverend David Burt, who has been the minister in Hillhouse for the last 12 years said: “We were delighted with the help we received from individuals who donated regularly and eventually raised a massive £170,000.

“We would also like to thank waste management company Viridor for a £30,000 grant, other churches and the Presbytery for their donations.

“We also received grants of £20,000 from the Church of Scotland, and a further £30,000 from other organisations to reach our target.”

A spokesman from Viridor said they were delighted to give the church cash from the Landfill Community Fund.

He said: “The funding panel was hugely impressed with the level of community support, both financially and in terms of volunteers who helped with the work.

“The church now has a real community asset which is sustainable in the long term.”

Mr Burt said that this has been the biggest building works project carried out at the church since the 1970s.

He added: “We have 400 members. We are a very busy church with many groups and organisations making use of the halls and new space.

“We have the ladies guild and CAMEO group, we have a men’s club, Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades, youth groups, a banner group, property committee, and we are just starting a new drama group this week now that refurbishments are complete.

“We are also able to offer conference facilities. Threshold, who work with adults with learning difficulties, are holding their conference here.

“We fully expect to be able to expand our facilities further and welcome additional groups and organisations.”

For further information on church activities call 01698 829615 or visit: www.hillhousechurch.com