200 year old Sheerness church brings businesses together

The Sheerness Dockyard Church was opened up as a community space nearly a year ago after being derelict for decades.

Transcript

00:00For two decades the Sheerness Dockyard Church was derelict after a fire destroyed the roof

00:05in 2001.

00:06But following £4.2 million of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and years

00:12of restoration work, the deconsecrated church opened as a community space to the public

00:18last summer.

00:19When I came here what I witnessed was just a forlorn shell with trees growing up in the

00:25middle and a sense that really it was too late.

00:30But we got together, a few enthusiasts, we set up a new preservation trust, we got a

00:37hold of the building and we put together a project with Lottery funding to repair the

00:42building and put it back to use.

00:46It's wonderful to come here and just see the building full of life.

00:50The cafe is thriving, the business space upstairs is busy, meeting rooms are being

00:57used and there's a real sense the community have embraced the building and are enjoying

01:03it and I couldn't have wished for more, I think it's surpassed expectations.

01:08Built in 1828 the church has served as everything from a religious space to a boxing club.

01:13Nearly a year on from its multi-million pound restoration and reopening, the community says

01:18has transformed their lives in sheerness.

01:21It's having us all under one roof, no matter who you are, no matter where you're from,

01:26that's the most important for me and yeah, just putting Islay Sheppey back on the map.

01:32Yeah, yeah, it enables everyone to have a voice and a platform to actually express themselves

01:38which we didn't have prior.

01:39It wasn't easy to access local colleges, other local businesses so the networking and the

01:45college access is invaluable.

01:48We view that this is a space that's not like a school, it's not like a college, it's very

01:53much its own space, it's comfortable to be here and when we talk to the youngsters they

01:59actually say yes, much prefer to be learning here.

02:03Space sort of three or four days a week, I've been doing it for the last sort of probably

02:09two months.

02:10You have a nice friendly conversation in the morning or just before you go home for a few

02:13minutes or if you go and get some lunch and it's just, I feel so much more relaxed, I've

02:19got a smile on my face all the time when I'm in here so no, I would never go back now if

02:23I had the choice.

02:25The island does get knocked a lot, you've already said that it's quite a disadvantaged

02:29area and yeah, I can't disagree with that but to have a wonderful space like this, I

02:35really hope that the people get on board with it, support it because it would be lovely

02:39to knock that stereotype of the island where it's got nothing to offer.

02:45It has, it really has, I mean look at this, it's fantastic.

02:48Who would have thought today after nearly 200 years and two fires that this church would

02:53still be connecting people right here on the Isle of Sheppey today.

02:57Oliver Leeders of Sass reporting for KMTV in Sheerness.