Banks Group grant to help make village church accessible to all

Tuesday 19 May 2009

Access to a Derbyshire village church is now much easier for all its users, thanks to a £7,500 grant that has helped to fund the installation of new ramps into the building.

The new access ramp to the main church entrance and other landscaping works have now been completed.

Dedicated in 1882, St Susanna’s is a well-used parish church which hosts services and events from the village school, as well as a full range of church functions, baptisms, weddings & funerals for a congregation, on occasions, of up to 200 people.

Horsley Woodhouse Parochial Church Council secured the grant for the church. Co-ordinator Cllr Eric Lancashire MBE says: “Providing easier access to the church for all our users, some of whom are naturally quite elderly and restricted, was an issue we had been considering for a while, but the introduction of legislation covering disabled access to public buildings made it a much more pressing concern.

“The steps leading into the building proved a particular problem, but by installing a platform that extends from the door out to the pathway and gateway beyond, and landscaping some of the ground in between, we have been able to make our church wholly accessible to all.

“The support that we have had from Banks for this project has been invaluable in meeting the majority of our costs, and this should lead to even more local people being able to access and use our church.”

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at Banks Developments, adds: "This ramp will make a huge difference in enabling people to access the church’s facilities more easily, and we’re very pleased to be able to support this project.”

Projects, community groups, or organisations looking for funding in the vicinity of a Banks Group development should contact Clare Johnson at The Banks Community Fund on 0191 383 0055.

Last updated: Tuesday 19 May 2009, 15:23 PM