A “RUNDOWN” church kitchen has been given a new lease of life to benefit the Bidston community.

St Oswald’s Church is in the heart of the community in Bidston Village and is relied upon by many, including local people who use it for support groups, companionship, and as a place to keep warm.  

The church’s kitchen has now been transformed after property maintenance firm Liberty and housing association Onward stepped in to replace crumbling units, worktops, level the flooring and revamp the toilet facilities.

Reverend Joe Smith, of St Oswald’s Church, said: “The kitchen was originally installed in the late 1980s and had since fallen into a state of disrepair. It was not fit for purpose and wouldn’t pass new environmental health checks.

“Due to financial difficulties following the Covid-19 pandemic, we could not fund a new kitchen ourselves, we reached out to a number of charities and Liberty and Onward agreed to donate their time and resources to get our kitchen fit for purpose again.  

“Now we have a wonderful new kitchen thanks to their efforts and the church can hold community clubs.

“We’ve just started the Wednesday Warm Club, an opportunity to meet new friends and have a drink. We recently purchased a new oven so we can turn it into a lunchtime group where the community can get a warm meal and make new friends.” 

Groups including the local ladies' fellowship, men’s group, and new toddler group little caterpillars are now benefitting from the renovations, which took three days to complete.  

Contract Manager at Liberty Mark Wilson said: “We were delighted to help out with this project when Onward asked. The church is a real community hub but was in a bad way, so this transformation was very much needed. 

“It’s great to see the positive impact the support they offer vulnerable people within the local community is making, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with Onward and St Oswald’s Church in the future.” 

In addition to the three days of labour the Liberty team provided, £2,000 worth of materials to complete the job were donated.