All Saints church in Great Oakley receives new grants

All Saints Church held their annual Christmas fair in a different setting to past years.

This year, the fair took place at the church instead of the village hall.

Brian Willis, churchwarden at All Saints Church said: “The atmosphere was different this year, we loved having it in the village hall because it’s in the centre of the community.

“Everyone talked about how friendly and warm the atmosphere was this year, with Christmas carols and the smell of mulled wine.”

Nick Hines, Mike Corbishley, Paul Brazier and Brian Willis at work

Facilities at All Saints church are set to see improvements through grants the building has received from several organisations including the Essex Heritage Trust and Friends of Essex Churches.

The latest stage of the redevelopment of the church has seen a new servery up and running.

The church has never had running water and this addition is part of an ongoing programme to modernise the interior of the church.

A lot of the pews have been taken out of the building providing a big open area for members.

Mr Willis added: “Everyone seems to be impressed, there’s a lot of work happening in the vestry because of dampness problems.

“We’ve redone the inside and there is a new drainage system on the outside.

Brian Willis and Paul Brazier at work

“The next stage will be to replace the antiquated heating and lighting in the church and the final stage will be to build an extension on the north side with toilets, a kitchen, a meeting room and storage areas.”

These additions will see more events take place at the church as the meeting room will host small gatherings.

Mr Willis added that All Saints church are very grateful to Kingsway church. Kingsway provided and paid for the All Saints portaloo before they had toilets installed.

He said: “Before the builders started their work, we saved a lot of money by having volunteer labour to help with things like taking up the floorboards and removing old panelling out of the vestry.”

All Saints is hosting a number of events that will be announced shortly.