Years of hard work to improve a Braintree church look set to pay off.

Dedicated fundraisers at St Paul's Church, the Anglican parish church of east Braintree in Hay Lane, have spent seven years raising about £150,000 towards a new church extension.

They are celebrating being awarded a £15,000 grant of landfill tax revenue from the Essex Environment Trust and £8,000 from the Friends of Essex Churches.

Now the extension is largely complete and will be dedicated by the Bishop of Colchester, the Rt Rev Christopher Morgan, in a ceremony on June 28.

But about £60,000 is still needed to finish fitting out the new facilities.

David Possee, a church member involved in the building project, said: "It's exhilarating really. We've had our ups and downs and wondered at one time if we'd ever get it going, but it's really nice to see it up.

"Replacing the roof, which was time-expired, was the first thing to be done, then to provide a new kitchen and toilet facilities and to open up the front of the church, which at present is where the old toilet block is.

"We've taken the opportunity to make the building more disabled-friendly.

"At the moment, we're contacting some more trusts and we're also appealing for help from local businesses to complete the project."

If you can help with St Paul's Church's fundraising call 01376 344558.

Published Tuesday, April 29, 2003

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