Two years ago, Haslingden Methodist Church was a regular target for attack by vandals. The 160 year old church had suffered damage to a lot of windows. Following on from these attacks, the church community decided to become more involved with the community. They set up a parent and toddler group, and a café in the church both of which take the word of the church into the community, however the members of the church felt they wanted to go further.
During the spring of 2017, the members of the church decided to carry out some community work in the area. They recognised they did not have the skills and talents to carry out the type of community work that they envisaged, and so they advertised for a professional community worker. They also recognised that they needed to obtain the equipment for the person they appointed to be able to set up an office within the church.
There are several Freemasons in the congregation. One of them is Ron Howell of Rhyddings Lodge 5205 in the Northern District. Ron decided to apply to the ELMC for £950 funding for the office. Since making the application to the ELMC, the church has continued to seek funding from other sources, and has now obtained the funding to support the ongoing costs of salary for the worker.
The ELMC agreed to fund the creation of an office by paying for the equipment and Steve Clark, Bury District’s Charity Steward presented a cheque to Rev Rick Ormrod and Ron Howell. It is hoped that the community work will begin almost immediately.