Bacon baps round off a church success story

Churchwarden Mick Gregory wrote to waste operator Biffa last year when the outlook seemed bleak for the church.

Today he was able to show Kath Liversedge, Biffa's grants officer, how the commercial-sized modern gas range is keeping more than 80 mouths fed every week.

Thanks to Luncheon Club cook Hazel Rose and Day Centre cook Pat James, who were joined by Luncheon Club chairman Marie Williams and St Michael's other churchwarden Jan Sparkes, he was able to do more.

Soon, the ladies had the stove in use and a delicious aroma wafted up as bacon baps were served.

Disaster struck at St Michael's in October 2007 when the old range was condemned as unsafe.

Among the many users of the well-used hall to be hard hit were the church's Luncheon Club and the Day Centre for the elderly.

Church leaders including the former Vicar, the Rev David King, who left late last year for a new parish in Eastbourne, took a careful look at the situation.

The more they investigated the problem the bigger it became.

Initially, it seemed a simple but simple matter of replacing the old cooker

But they found themselves caught in a web of heath and safety regulations.

These required that the replacement be fitted with a large extractor hood, linked electronically to the oven and to a separate wall-mounted fan to bring fresh air into the room.

The existing kitchen was too small to accommodate the new arrangement so the church had to sacrifice the small meeting room at the rear of the hall.

Adaptations included the need to brick up one window, replace another with one shallow enough to allow kitchen units to be built in underneath and replace the floor covering.

Mick Gregory launched a cooker appeal in March 2008. Parishoners were aghast to find that the appeal target was 10,000. But with organisations like the Luncheon Club and Day Centre heavily dependent on the availability of hot food, they rallied behind the appeal.

The breakthrough came when in response to one of the many appeal letters Mick sent to organisations, Biffa responded with a 5,000 grant '“ half then and half on completion.

The grant came from out of landfill credits and was matched by fund-raising which ranged from 3,000 from Old Town Preservation Society to pupils at Pebsham Community Primary School, which has a close association with the church, selling ice cream at the school and raising 100.

Hazel had been cook at the Pine Tree Restaurant. When St Michael's Hospice had to close the restaurant, the church were able to obtain the stainless steel working units froThe Pine Tree's kitchen for a donation to the cause.

The wheeled units fitted St Michael's new kitchen perfectly and complement the oven's huge new stainless steel extractor hood.

Shown how Biffa's grant had helped St Michael's church hall continue its work for the community, Kath Liversedge said: "It's great to see it is used by so many people.

"We are pleased to have been able to help."

Pat James said of the new kitchen: "It makes it very much more user-friendly."