Parishioners at St Patrick’s Church, Thornaby, couldn’t believe their eyes when their refurbished parish hall was reopened on Thursday 7th May 2009! Nine months earlier the hall had been in ruins – the electrics had been condemned, the floor had fallen through, there was damp in the building, the windows were rotten, the ceiling was badly damaged – in fact, things were so bad that the CWL had to use the neighbouring Salvation Army premises to host an annual meeting. Now, after a nine month gestation period, the parish hall has been reborn.
Like all good fairy tales, when things got really bad, along came a Fairy Godmother in the guise of Mrs Nicky Graves who provided the advice and support necessary to St Patrick’s Friendship Group to enable them to make an application for a grant to Impetus Trust. Her help was truly invaluable and anxiety turned to celebration when it was announced that £94,000 would be provided to assist in the refurbishment.
And so the work began – in the capable hands of parishioner Christopher Deaton – who acted as Project Manager and who worked tirelessly to ensure that the transformation took place, assisted by his brother Mark. Darren Marsh Builders won the contract and went over and beyond the call of duty to present us with a hall we could be proud of. Knowing that £94,000 wouldn’t stretch as far as we thought it would, Darren personally donated the kitchens; Daniel Chaney donated and fitted the alarm system in memory of his baby boy Alfie, whose funeral service had been held at St Pat’s; Armstrong Flooring donated the floor coverings and parishioners donated paint, time and money to the project. When St Pat’s Friendship Group finally saw the completed work, it was an extremely emotional moment and then plans commenced to formally reopen the hall.
At a Thanksgiving Mass on 7th May attended by the Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Thornaby, Mr Mick and Mrs Delia Eddy, parish priest Fr Michael Keogh spoke about building for the future so that our children would feel safe and secure in such a loving community. He reminded us that we have much to be grateful for and that we should never forget to give thanks for all that we have. Concluding his homily, Fr Michael looked to the future and trusted it to the safe hands of God and the love and generosity of the St Pat’s community.
The Mayor and Lady Mayoress then opened the parish hall and … the parishioners simply couldn’t believe their eyes!! There were gasps of amazement at the low ceilings, the dance floor (to be ‘christened’ by the Irish dancing class very soon), the kitchens, the ‘posh’ new toilets, disabled access, the French doors – we could go on and on! This really was a transformation and one that the parish truly deserved. A shared table was enjoyed (and more than a drop of the ‘hard stuff’!) and parishioners had a wonderful night with Darren Marsh showing photographs of before and after the renovations. All of this was captured for posterity by Jozef Jaskowiec, a member of St Pat’s choir and a keen photographer.
Parishioners are now excitedly talking about phase 2 – the garden area – and fundraising will again begin in earnest. The one thing everyone knows about St Pat’s is that we put our hearts and souls into caring for our community – come and see our new hall, book it for an event, party or conference – you’ll get a great St Pat’s welcome.