Our new meeting rooms
The Church Centre’s lower ground floor has been transformed!
Where once there was a café and kitchen there is now a new Counselling Centre, replacing in one integrated area the original reception room, office, and counselling room, and the two counselling rooms in Dale House. The old Counselling Centre suite has been opened up to become a meeting room, and two other high quality meeting rooms have been created - see details lower down.
Receptionist’s desk in the office Reception hatch & entrance
The new Counselling Centre, entered as before from the car park but by a different door, contains a spacious waiting area, a reception and administration office with a small waiting room for counsellors, three purpose-built counselling rooms, and a small meeting room which can also be used as a counselling room. The waiting area can also be used for training sessions. All areas are carpeted, and the office, waiting area and counselling rooms have been refurnished with the aid of an ‘Awards for All’ grant to the Counselling Centre from the Big Lottery Fund.
Waiting and circulation area Refreshment facilities
Our new meeting rooms and informal area
The new rooms seat up to 30 (left) 18 (right) & 15 (below left) people. The largest and smallest have a connecting door, so can be used in combination. This will be useful for meetings of up to 30 requiring ancillary space for breakout groups or catering, and on Sundays for an outside church group needing separate space for youngsters. The rooms are all carpeted and brightly painted; the largest one has been given a much bigger window than before. All have wi-fi transmitters allowing room users to connect their laptop computers to the internet. These rooms have disabled access through the car park entrance, with an intercom to the main office.
Not all the old café area was used for this. The remainder left space for some informal seating (right), and for new storage cupboards to replace those removed for the Counselling Centre development.
Hidden above the suspended ceilings is an extensive ventilation system continually bringing in fresh air. This, the fire detection system, and the new emergency escape routes, all meet the latest more stringent building regulations. All areas have been completely rewired for light and power.
The work was financed from recent legacies. It is part of a long programme of updating the church centre building, in which the upstairs meeting rooms and the main foyer and Reception have already been upgraded. One objective is to offer modern facilities on all floors to our hundreds of users, including the Counselling Centre launched by the church at the opening of the new building 40 years ago. Another objective is to facilitate the development of the life and work of the church congregations. We have already provided accommodation for a small resident Christian community; next year we hope to complete updating the building by refurbishing the main church room and improving its facilities.
Go to Room Hire section