Reliance Bank proudly funded All Saints Hampton church hall to bring the Community closer together

Reverend Donna, her team and the congregation of All Saints Hampton (ASH) have created a lively and inviting environment at their Church in the leafy suburbs of London. Music, fun and laughter are at the heart of worship at ASH. And the completion of the new Church Hall has brought the Community closer together.

The previous Church Hall was no longer fit for purpose. Poor lighting, poor heating and a 1950s’ configuration made it impossible to host multiple functions. ASH also own a separate property that provides an important source of rental income that allows the Church to deliver the needs of the Community. The three-bedroom bungalow needed to be modernised to make it habitable for a local family to live, grow and thrive in.

Solution
Reliance Bank provided funding to All Saints Hampton to assist with the internal fit-out to the Church Hall and refurbishment works on the pre-owned three-bedroom bungalow next to the Church.

Reliance Bank’s funding enabled Reverend Donna and All Saints Hampton to galvanise support from the builders to create a well-thought-out layout that allows the ASH team to run more courses, one-off sessions and Community events for the people of Hampton and the surrounding area. All this helps bring people together and increase the number of church members actively involved in some way.

The combined efforts of everyone working together to remodel the Church Hall and bungalow has given the Community renewed energy and focus for supporting each other and those in need.

Impact
Reliance Bank’s funding enabled the Church Hall to be re-configured and refurbished and this has provided a lot more freedom in the form of breakout rooms, office space, catering quality kitchen and separate access to different parts of the Hall, so that multiple functions can be held in the Church Hall at the same time. The addition of a wheelchair-accessible toilet also makes the Community space accessible.

The funding from Reliance Bank was also used to update the three-bedroom detached bungalow, built in the 1950’s. The living room, kitchen, dining area, bathroom and WC have all been modernised for a local family. The bungalow has a private wrap around garden and some off-street parking so that the family can enjoy the outside space.

Throughout the year ASH runs dozens of events, ranging from Kids’ Light Parties to cocktail nights for the grown-ups. Children and young adults use the Church Hall space for activity afternoons during half term (crafts, games and food) where 90 children attend each half term.

Local dancers can regularly attend the Dance School, Gardeners manicure the beautiful gardens all year round and the Men’s DIY Team can flex their skills here. All this helps bring people together and increase the number of Church members actively involved in some way even if they do not have a faith background.

ASH host The Money Course that provide free, practical money skills to help people confidently manage their everyday finances. The new Church Hall also allows Rooms for Work to run an employment course for the over 40’s.

The Community Café serves tea and coffee and tasty homemade cakes in their beautiful and warm Church. With regular visits from Ruils for health checks and Crosslight for money advice.

All Saints Hampton is a beautiful space in which to get married. And some people also choose to have their children baptised (Christened).

Impact statistics:
• Reduced hunger for 90 children (activity afternoons during half terms)
• 16 people have benefitted from receiving apprenticeships, training or internships (Rooms for Work)
• Created and maintained 1 Community centre (refurbished Church Hall)
• 360 people have been supported with community centres and facilities (200 attend Sunday service and 60 care home residents watch the Sunday service via live streaming and 100 tickets sold via the Theatre)
• 10 people have been able to receive personal learning and development opportunities (through attending the Money Course – a free practical money skills course).

Testimonial
Reverend Donna Williams of All Saints Hampton answered the following questions:

How did you come to the decision to use Reliance Bank?:
“We had gone out to look at different banks, commercial banks, charity banks and the people who we already banked with and we looked at different loans. We dealt with Reliance Bank and got some information and our Trustees looked at it and we really liked that it had a social impact side to it over a commercial side. So, we chose them. Also, when you’re working with commercial banks and faith organisations there’s a lot of misunderstanding quite a lot of the time. But because Reliance Bank is rooted in The Salvation Army there definitely was an understanding of a faith organisation and how we like to work in the Community. So, both those ticked the boxes we were looking for, so we approached Reliance Bank.

It was good to be appointed a Relationship Manager who you could build a relationship with and have some honest conversations with which I really appreciated. At the time we were already into the project, waiting for the funding to come through. And so, it was good for someone to come on site and look at what we were doing and meet the people and help us meet the needs of the building project and all the limits we had and that was a really positive experience.”

How did you feel when you received the funds?
“When we received the funds, we were elated. And I was quite honestly relieved. The community was waiting for it. The Church was waiting for it. There were a lot of expectations, knowing that you can complete a project. And you have got all the funding it removes the focus on trying to get funding to delivering on the project. And then start planning on how we were going to use it in the Community. We were closer to our dream being realised and our vision being fulfilled. So, it’s excellent when you’ve got the funding to be able to do that.”

What did you use the funds for?
“So, the idea was to use the funding to renovate the Church Hall that we had, and we did that for the purposes of the Community, whilst we use it on a Sunday for some of our faith activities, the rest of the time it is used by the Community. As a Church we are a church for the Community. A lot of what we do is to meet the needs of the Community. To increase the community spirit. To meet the social needs where we can. But everything comes out of the Church so it’s our volunteers who deliver that.

We also partner with other charities, so we had a vision that we could use our halls to partner with other charities who meets the needs of the Community, so it doesn’t all come out of our pot of people because that would be very limiting. One other thing about what it does for a community, when you get funding, you can complete a project. For this project they had been doing it for a couple of decades. Planning, having the hope that they could do it, hopes being dashed because they couldn’t get funding and they weren’t able to do it.

Now we have finally done it. The life that it brings to the Community when you have done something for them is incredible. Everyone becomes part of the Community. It’s their hall, it’s their space where they can invite people. I’ve seen new life come out of us being able to do this and do it for the Community.”