IN THE BEGINNING…

 

The church was opened in 1932 after land was given to local Baptists so there could be a Christian presence, in the this new estate. On the first Sunday Sister Beatrice opened the doors to find 50 children waiting to come inside!!

The picture above is a drawing of the original church plans. The rooms the church has been using since 1932 were actually only the school rooms. Just as building was about to commence on the main church hall, World War Two hit and plans were abandoned. The church was originally going to be called Park Avenue Baptist due to the road it sits on but was changed to Broadmead Baptist in honour of the Broadmead Baptist Church in Bristol, which is still there today. In fact, Broadmead Avenue itself was named after the church!

The vision for the church, as then, remains the same today: to reach the local community with the love of God. Currently over 300 people attend on a Sunday and many more, of all ages use the building for a variety of activities during the week. Just like at the beginning of Broadmead’s life, we have a lot of children and children’s activities going on each week, including Samuels Christian Nursery for pre-schoolers which runs every day during term time.

THE 10%

 

We have been so blessed by this new building that we wanted to be a blessing to others too! We have  donated 10% of the total raised for the new build to another project in Madagascar. This follows the biblical principle of giving 10% of your income to charitable causes.

Our church currently has missionaries working out in Madagascar and so the 10% has been used to support the work they are doing over there. This includes Bible studies, youth camps and the distribution of blankets and other basic necessities to those in need.

THE PROJECT PROCESS

Planning began in 2008 to replace the existing church with a brand new centre. This was going to be much more cost-effective than extending or renovating the old building.

Fundraising began in 2010 with a launch evening where everyone was given a DIY fundraising kit to take home to get the ball rolling! We employed a fundraising consultant, Graham Collings, to work with us on a fundraising strategy, and as part of that strategy, we employed a part time fundraiser from 2013 – 2017 to raise the required funds.

A lot of people worked on the project for many years, including a fundraising team and a building team. 

Planning permission was first granted in 2012 and then renewed in 2015 with a start on site needed by March 2018.

In the summer of 2017, we reached the point financially where we were ready to appoint a building firm to start the build. We went through the tender process to appoint a contractor and Watson & Cox were chosen to deliver the project.

On Monday 16 October 2017, the hoardings were put up around the church site and on Monday 23 October, the builders moved on-site to start the build. A Ground Breaking ceremony was held on 12 November 2017 once demolition was complete.

Phase one of the building took approximately 42 weeks.  This consisted of the building itself and the completion of the downstairs.  We took possession of the keys to the building in December 2018. Samuels Christian Nursery and BMAC opened in January 2019 and the church began to hold three Sunday gatherings as well as mid week activities in the building.

Phase 1 of the The Broadmead Building Project, which enabled the opening of the ground floor, cost £2.66 million to build, made up of contractor costs of £2.4 million, and £257,000 of professional fees and fundraising expenses.

This was funded from a number of sources:

  • Loan funding of £1.39 million from The Baptist Union and other sources to be paid back over 20 years by monthly pledges made by members
  • Grant and trust funding of £160,000 includes significant gifts from Allchurches Trust (£38,000), the Central Baptist Association (£38,000), the Laing Foundation (£25,000)
  • Fundraising events raised £33,000.
  • Sale of the church manse £310,000
  • The remainder (£915,000) came from monthly and one off gifts from the church congregation.

2020 saw the completion of Phase 2 of the project – a large auditorium, a cafe area and a lift.  we were able to start using these new spaces during the COVID lockdowns.  

2021 saw the completion of the rest of the upstairs – toilets, two further meeting rooms, and a large kitchen.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Completion of the first floor cost around £400,000 and we have raised that through further trust applications, gifts in kind from local businesses and through gifts and donations.  However we are still fundraising to pay off various loans.

You can help Broadmead Community Church:

  • Via a one off gift. You can donate directly to the project by visiting our online giving page here;
  • Via a regular monthly donation. You can set this up either through our online giving page here or by direct debit. Please contact us here for a direct debit form;
  • Via Give As You Live. This is a great scheme where every time you shop online, the retailer gives a percentage of your spend directly to us at no extra cost to you! Its so simple to set up and lots of major retailers like Sainsburys, John Lewis and Amazon are signed up. Visit their website and get started here
  • By saving your pennies!! We have penny boxes available for saving up all that small change at the bottom of your wallet. So far we have raised over £3,000 for the project just from these donations.