A £400,000 appeal to turn an 800-year-old church into a community hub has been boosted by a £46,581 environmental grant.

Phase one of the works at St Mary’s in Lydney, to provide a new servery kitchen, disabled and extra toilets, flexible seating, and new lighting and sound systems, are under way and due to be completed by the end of May.

The ambitious project is set to make St Mary’s a centre for school, concert, festival, pastoral and community events.

The church itself has raised nearly £57,000 towards the project, as well as securing grants from national, Gloucester diocese and local trusts totalling £200,000, including its own Clara Watts Trust, which is funding a complete renewal of the lighting and has also awarded the project a £25,000 grant.

Easy access routes will be provided throughout the church, particularly for the disabled, those in buggies and the elderly, alongside the installation of updated sound equipment, including a hearing loop, a bookshop and welcome desk, changes to the flooring levels and restoration and decoration of the walls.

Rev Sarah Fenby, priest-in-charge, said: “The parochial church council are delighted to have been awarded a grant of £46,581 from the Gloucestershire Environmental Trust towards the completion of our community facilities at St Mary’s.

“It will enable the church to complete phase one of our works, which will greatly enhance the community use of St Mary’s and all the many school, concert, festival, pastoral and community gatherings held there.

“The facilities, using local builders Ernest Heal and Sons and local materials, are on target for completion at the end of May and will be available for Lydney Festival, school and community use shortly after.

“We are already booked in the summer for weddings, christenings, concerts, a Dean Academy school awards evening and primary school cluster leavers’ assembly.”

She added that they would be looking to use an award from national elderly charity the Cinnamon Trust to work with a disadvantaged sector of the community, while also ensuring that there were opportunities for any who wish to use St Mary’s on a casual basis.

“Thanks to The Gloucestershire Environmental Trust (GET) we are one step closer to making this long anticipated project a reality,” she said. “St Mary’s has been a guiding landmark serving the whole town of Lydney for more than 800 years, and these facilities will help ensure that we can continue to make an important contribution to our town for many generations still to come.

“The church has been delighted to work with a number of local schools and community groups in fundraising initiatives. One of our foundational commitments is that St Mary’s is everybody’s church; here for everybody.”

Over the last 12 months, close to £1.5 million has been awarded to community projects in Glouces-tershire by the GET.

See www.lydney-parish.org.uk for more information or to support the appeal, or to apply for GET funding see http://ge-trust.org.uk/