A CHURCH in Kidderminster has refurbished its hall thanks in part to a grant from the national Biffa Award fund.

St Chad’s Church, in Comberton, spent £12,500 updating its hall, which was built in 1956, to have a suspended lit ceiling, triple glazed windows and new wiring.

David Underhill, project co-ordinator, said: “We created a suspended ceiling to allow the roof to be insulated. It’s made the room look a lot warmer, brighter and more modern.

“The builders have done a really good job as the ceiling was not flat, and was very tricky to do.

“Hopefully the refurbishment will lead to more people using the hall as local people have already commented about how welcoming it is.”

The builders started work on the refurbishment in April and have made many changes to the look of the hall.

Mr Underhill said: “We’ve installed acoustic tiles, which means the room does not echo like it used to and we’ve also painted the pillars to make them much brighter.

“We have also done away with the old electrical heaters as we won’t need them now with the new installation in place.

“The whole refurbishment won’t be complete until the next few weeks as we are still waiting for new worktops to be fitted.”

The church was given a grant for £10,000 to go toward the work from Biffa Award, a multi-million pound fund which awards grants to community and environmental projects across the UK The fund's money comes from landfill tax credits donated by Biffa Waste Services and to date have awarded more than £145 million to thousands of projects around the country.

Gillian French, Biffa Award programme manager, said: “Projects like this are incredibly important for local communities, which is why we look to invest in them.

“The improvement project at St Chad’s Church Hall will improve this facility for the local community groups to enjoy for many more years.”

To commemorate the refurbishment of the church hall, members of the church will be hosting a Strawberry Fair in its cafe on June 11, between 9.30am and 12.30pm.

Proceeds made from the fair will be going toward a senior citizen group which meet at the hall on Wednesday afternoons.

Lyn Archer, church council member and volunteer cafe manager, said: “The hall is much more welcoming for our Café customers who range in age from tiny babies to 90 year olds.

“The extra warmth and good lighting is much appreciated. The church council were so pleased when we learnt that Biffa Award funded our project.”