New kitchen is a real community treat

St Ambrose Church official opening of the newly refurbished kitchen in Halls for All. Jackie Ball and Pauline Damp.

Halls for All at St Ambrose Church, Moss Lane, Leyland, has had its kitchen refurbished following a fund-raising campaign.

And a special celebration took place at the weekend when the new facility was unveiled.

The Mayor of South Ribble, Coun Linda Woollard, officially opened the kitchen on Sunday afternoon - and together with other invited guests, sat down for a tasty meal cooked in it.

St Ambrose Church official opening of the newly refurbished kitchen in Halls for All. L-R Frances Dunsire, Janet Singleton, Susan Tinsley and Aileen Young.

Vicar of St Ambrose the Rev Duncan Clarke said: “The project has been going for about a year, but it’s been at the back of people’s minds for many years.

“We wanted a new kitchen to use within the community.

“Church members Brian Dunsire and Brian Taylor project managed it.

“It’s a proper industrial kitchen, it’s a good community kitchen which benefits everyone.”

St Ambrose Church official opening of the newly refurbished kitchen in Halls for All.

He added: “We had choral evensong with three choirs to celebrate the opening of the kitchen on Sunday, with the Bishop of Burnley, the right reverend Philip North, as preacher, and he dedicated the kitchen for us.

“And in attendance was the Mayor of South Ribble and her consort, there was councillor Ken Jones , Coun Sue Jones and county councillor Mike Otter.

“We had a sit down meal cooked in the kitchen - it was shepherd’s pie and afterwards we had apple crumble.

“The two cooks were Jackie Ball and Pauline Damp.

St Ambrose Church official opening of the newly refurbished kitchen in Halls for All. Janet Wilson does the washing up.

“There were about 120 people.”

Mr Clarke said: “We’re hoping to have a dementia cafe there and various meals for the community, as well.

“We’ve got great plans to use it for the community.

“We wanted to it originally when we built Halls for All.

“Money has been raised for it by fund-raising and generous gifts.

“Everyone in the community is very happy with it.

“We’d just like to thank everyone involved in the project who has worked very hard.”

The Halls for All’s three halls are regularly hired out for conferences or meetings.

The Halls for All project was completed in 2010, following extensive fund-raising by the St Ambrose Church community.

The aim was to create a facility to be used by everyone in Leyland and the surrounding area.