Spalding church officer takes on Project St Thomas
The project leader behind plans to turn a former Methodist chapel into a "community resource" for Spalding wants the public to get involved.
Dixie Potter, parish administrator for St Norbert's Roman Catholic Church, has the task of moving the chapel's redevelopment forward.
Mrs Potter is in charge of running Project St Thomas, which takes its name from the road in Spalding where the chapel is located.
The aim is to turn the 200-year-old building into a two-storey community hub, with a nursery and cafe on the ground floor, while a number of rooms on the first floor will be available for voluntary groups and charities to rent.
Mrs Potter said: "I started in my new role at the beginning of November to try and help out on the project by getting it back on track.
"For various reasons, there hasn't been the progression that everybody would like and because I have a background in project manager, it seemed reasonable for me to pick up the business plan for the project and finalise the details.
"I also want to re-engage the community and kickstart the project in people's minds as this is a great community effort open to everybody.
"While we're developing it, then once it's up and running, we want everybody in the area to feel engaged with it."
The project started with the purchase of the chapel by St Norbert's for £300,000 in November 2018 after a donation from church member and retired grower Peter Borst.
People were then invited to hear about plans for redeveloping the chapel at a public meeting in February.
Mrs Potter said: "We would really welcome anybody with any skills to help us with the project, anybody who would like to volunteer for the development phase and volunteer when the centre is opened.
"We're also happy to hear from individuals or organisations with a need for space as we want to build Project St Thomas into a community resource that captures the wishes and desires of people in the best way possible."
You can call Mrs Potter on 01775 722056, between 12.30pm and 3pm, Mondays to Fridays, or email dixie.potter@stnorberts.org.uk