Everyone’s invited to see St Mary’s Church transformation

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There’s an invitation to everyone in Ely to be the first to see inside St Mary’s Church when the doors are opened for the first time after its transformation.

“The building has become the beautiful, accessible, sustainable, flexible and functional space we’d hoped for,” said the Rector, the Rev Chris Hill. “Please do come along and take a look. Imagine how your group or organisation might like to use it. Whoever you are, wherever you are from, you are welcome here.”

The “open doors” event is on Sunday 27 November from 11am-4pm as part of Ely Festive Fair. There will be refreshments and an exhibition.

The Grade 1 Listed building which dates back 800 years has been closed for nearly a year as a team of specialist builders and engineers worked inside.

The floor has been levelled and a stone floor laid with underfloor heating. Air source heat pumps will reduce the building’s carbon footprint and secondary heating, new lighting, electrics and audio visual equipment have been installed.

“This has been a magnificent team effort,” said the Rector. “I’d like to thank all those whose generosity and hard work contributed to getting to this point, Archangel architects, Coulson and Son contractors, the members of the church who donated and the grant providers.”

Already booked is a “Sing Together” Dementia Choir community event on Saturday 3 December at 11am and Ely Choral Society will stage their Christmas concert on Saturday 10 December at 7.30pm.

While the church has been closed Sunday services have been held in the former Bishop Woodford House in Barton Road which is now part of King’s Ely. The congregation will return to St Mary’s for a celebratory first service on Sunday 11 December at 10am.

Fundraising for the project began six years ago attracting generous support from local and national charities including the Amey Community Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, Beatrice Laing Trust, Joseph Rank Trust, Thomas Parsons Charity, as well as East Cambridgeshire District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy fund. The major contribution came from church members.