In 2006 we began our building expansion project and most of Phase 1 is now completed. We were able to purchase the back plot, providing the land needed for a new car park and enabling us to extend our Warehouse across our existing car park.

During these phases, church members generously gave and pledged around £4.4M including gift aid. We also increased our mortgage to £1.6M. Take a look at this great video showing the whole build in under 5 minutes, which gives a real sense of what has so far been achieved. 

We moved into the extended auditorium and new offices in September 2008, and finished the upstairs rooms in the extension in the summer of 2009.

Essentially all that remains to finish the building is the kitchen and café bookshop with its outdoor decked area and covered cycle racks. We have also yet to complete and surface the new car park.

Given the delay in developing the dilapidated unit on the back plot due to insufficient funds, we have been prayerfully revisiting the longer term plans for the Youth & Training Centre, taking into account a number of factors. The Arches ‘Virtual Warehouse’ has taken off and is now using a growing amount of the space in that unit (along with other storage needs such as New Wine equipment).

Longer term, we sense that we will need more multi-purpose rooms for church and conference use, and with its proximity to our existing building, it has the potential to become a connected facility. (As and when that day comes we could re-house the Arches furniture elsewhere.) 

Expansion Phase 2 - The Front Plot 
 

At the time we bought the back plot we also exchanged contracts on the front plot (shown in green), the purchase to be completed at a later date.

The building on the front plot is essentially made up of two connected portal frame buildings, the south one being just behind ours and the north one beyond that, with a two storey unit across the front - the upper floor of which we have until recently been renting for our youth. While we intend to leave the current tenant in the south building, it has become clear that the north building (shown in blue) offers a far preferable development opportunity for the Youth & Training Centre than the unit on the back plot.

For instance it is more accessible from Lenton Lane, and with no steel columns within it, the main area is ideal for sports and a youth auditorium. Being in far better condition than the unit on the back plot, it will also cost less to convert.

It also lends itself better to the education project we are intending to start, using part of the space to create a facility for teenagers who are at a crisis point in their education, who have been excluded or are facing the potential of exclusion from school.

Part of our vision for contributing to the transformation of Nottingham is the investment in young people who with so much brokenness in their background are at risk of a future in crime. We’d love to give them every opportunity to thrive as contributing members of society, and we are excited about the potential of partnering with the Lighthouse Group in this venture. 

The building across the front of the site where our own youth have been meeting has deteriorated, and recently they made the move back into our Warehouse. They are currently using one of the Vineyard Kids rooms and the undeveloped area which is due to become our kitchen and café bookshop. This is evidently only a short-term solution, and there is now a pressing need to get the Youth & Training Centre developed.

Our plan is to bring the purchase date of the front plot forwards and develop the north building for our youth and the education project as soon as possible. There are also some essential repairs and improvements to be made to the existing buildings and parking areas.

For the next few years we foresee leaving the other space on the front plot leased for business use, which will provide some income to help us achieve our next phase of development. Down the track we still have the potential of using the front and south parts of the front plot for businesses which create jobs for those coming out of homelessness, prison, addiction etc, as and when we have the resources.

Our need now

So, our need now is to complete the purchase of the front plot and obtain ‘change of use’ planning consent for the refurbishment of the north building for the Youth & Training Centre. We also need to finish the kitchen and café bookshop and complete the car park.

The illustration above right shows the costs involved and the amount still needed to achieve this at the time of writing, a total of £1.8M.

Giving on the money

As with our normal income, 22% of the money received from members of the church will be given to or spent on the poor, other churches and mission, and so this next phase could release a further £400,000 for those purposes.

Our part in this leg of the race

We are again inviting everyone in the church to give generously and sacrificially to enable this exciting phase to happen.

For some it will be relatively small amounts; for others it may be tens of thousands of pounds or more. Give as the Lord prompts you in accordance to the resources He has blessed you with.

Many of us gave towards building the Warehouse, and then towards Phase 1 of the Expansion. Many of us still have pledges running. It has been amazing to see how the sacrifices of so many have achieved so much already. This next phase is achievable if we all consider afresh what the Lord would invite us to give, as others who have not yet given join us in this incredible journey. 

Please consider an up-front gift. If you have money available, this will be vital in enabling us to get on with the development.

Please also consider pledging an amount on top of your regular giving to Trent Vineyard. Most people may not have much in savings, but can still give a considerable amount over the next few years out of their ongoing income month by month.

Options to consider if you have a monthly Building pledge running currently:

• Make a new pledge to start when your current Building pledge expires (many expire within 12 months).
• Make a new pledge to run alongside your existing Building pledge.
• Make a new pledge to replace your current Building pledge.

Click here for printable form

Our goal is to raise £1.8M through gifts and pledges.

If you have any questions, please email us at therace@trentvineyard.org