Church gets £5k handout
Blakenall United Church has been given a £5,000 grant as it marks its 125th anniversary. The church in Chantry Avenue celebrated the milestone last month.
Church leaders said today that they plan to spend the cash on new fencing and are asking residents to help choose the design.
Elder Kath Phillips said the money was awarded by the area's New Deal for Communities.
She said: "We are getting some railing heads to decorate the top of the fencing."
Mrs Phillips, also a councillor for Bloxwich East, said residents should visit her surgery on Monday between midday and 2pm at Blakenall Village Centre to view the plans and offer their views. She said the congregation needed to raise another £3,000 in match funding for the scheme.
The congregation is now worshipping in its third building since the ministry was started in the mid-1800s. Formerly known as Blakenall Congregational, the early members met in their own homes before moving into an independent chapel in Booth Street in 1882 in a building previously used by Methodists.
A second church was built in nearby Chantry Avenue and opened its doors on June 4 1936, with the previous building in Booth Street being sold.
Unable to keep the 1930s building in good repair, the members agreed to have it demolished, sell part of the land for housing and replace it with a smaller worship centre. This opened on September 23, 1995.
