A NEW look for a South Oxford church is being revealed at the weekend after a £500,000 refurbishment.

A children’s chill-out room, new kitchen, toilets and storage are just some of the new features at St Luke’s Church in Canning Crescent.

The new church building, which can be seen from Abingdon Road, will be officially opened at a series of special events, nine months after work started in February.

The Rev Jane Sherwood said there are exciting times ahead for the church and for the community it serves.

She said: “This is the result of a lot of consultation work with the local community, and young people had a part to play.

“The church was dated and we were struggling to host all of the groups we wanted to.

“Bits kept falling off it and it wasn’t properly insulated so it got very cold in the winter.

“It was a mainly asbestos building so that has all been removed and the church was stripped down to its original timber frame and extended to add the chill-out room, new kitchen, disabled toilet and storage space.”

Now, smart panelled and painted walls and a new floor have replaced a worn-out interior, but the church’s impressive wooden beams remain in place.

The new chill-out room, complete with its own entrance and mini kitchen, will host events for young people and was chosen as an extra by youngsters.

Ms Sherwood said: “It cost £500,000, mainly in grant funding from the Veolia Environmental Trust and Waste Recycling Environmental Limited (WREN).

“We also received a grant of £50,000 from county council youth capital funding, which the young people applied for themselves, so they really did play an important part.”

Weirs Lane resident Harry Holtum, 86, said it would benefit the whole community.

He said: “I came to Oxford in 1943 and the church has always been a welfare church, for children, mums, their babies, everyone.”

Opening events

  • On Saturday, tea and cake will be served and people can get a tour of the building, and a special edition of St Luke’s Got Talent will be held from 7pm.
  •  On Sunday, an opening service at 11am will be followed by a bring and share lunch.
  • The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Rev John Pritchard, will perform the official opening on April 6.