Blessing event and buffet to mark £16k Walsall church kitchen facelift

Worshippers at the town's Green Lane Baptist Church invited donors to a blessing ceremony and buffet lunch to say thank you for the gifts in cash and kind given towards the effort to upgrade catering its facilities.

Fundraising was launched in 2019 and included activities including church members taking part in a sponsored walk in Reedswood Park, along with a gift day for church regulars to give and pledge donations.

Robert Silvera, 57, who helped to organise the kitchen refit, says: "This has been a labour of love for us at Green Lane Baptist Church. We had the obstacle unfortunately of Covid in 2020 which set us back, but we were not put off.

"Thanks to all of our donors and this is our refurbished kitchen."

The improvements were carried out by Willenhall-based CJ Property Services last summer after charitable trust Victor Street Almhouses Fund awarded the church a £10,000 grant towards the cost.

The money was spent on new stainless steel units for food preparation, a dishwasher, larger fridge and freezer appliances, new flooring and internal extension of the kitchen area at the premises in Burrowes Street.

The fundraising effort was suspended four years ago due to both the coronavirus pandemic and the need to purchase a new boiler at the church which previously ran the former Mend-It Community Project for 10 years, providing bread, sewing and English classes for residents. With the completion of the kitchen facelift the members hope to host more food-related initiatives to assist residents in the area.

Victor Street Almhouses Fund trustee John Wood said: "The aim of the trust has always been to help with homelessness and housing issues and relieve the poor.

"We have done this by supporting other charities already working in the community.We felt that by helping Green Lane with their kitchen - we were supporting community outreach."

Along with being used for church activities, the kitchen is hired by independent charity Walsall Foodcycle which serves free hot meals on Wednesdays at 7pm to all who need food or company.

The blessing held on Saturday featured speeches and prayers led by the church's moderator Rev Mike Buck followed by a buffet.

The Victor Street Almshouses Fund was set up in November 1972 to administer the proceeds from the sale almshouses located in Victor Street in Caldmore. The original trustees were Methodist and Baptist leaders with representatives from the various churches and at at first sums were allocated to retired ministers some of whom at the the time had been poorly paid and to other good causes.

Over the decades needs changed and the trust which is being wound down has awarded sums of between £1,000 to £20,000 to a variety of organisations.