St Mary's Sheffield is a church, community centre, and more. The building was converted in the late '90s to include a variety of new facilities. Besides the main church hall, used for conferences as well as services, the church building houses a variety of flexible meeting and breakout spaces. During the renovation, the churchyard walls were removed, allowing it to become a thoroughfare with seating areas. It is one of the largest green spaces in the area and provides a welcoming and inclusive frontage to the church. Two small businesses also operate within, a design practice and a print shop.
Inner city areas tend to suffer from a lack of social cohesion. The people living there often come from many different countries and are quite transient. There is high unemployment, and problems in engaging with schools, health and leisure services. People lack the basic opportunities that many of us take for granted.
Through our team of Community Development workers, St Mary’s aims to respond to these issues.
This morning Matthew and I met with Reverand Julian Sullivan who gave us a tour of the building and explained some of the varied work that goes on in St Mary's. Especially impressive was their use of capital from the conference and other operations to fund their community work.
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