The future of St Thomas’ Church in Ryde is looking positive thanks to the efforts of the town council and a local estate agency.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Ryde Town Council completed on the purchase of the Early English style church last month.
St Thomas’, which was built in 1827, has been saved from falling into disrepair and will now be brought back into community use as a youth centre, allowing the popular Network Ryde to expand its offering to even more local youngsters.
The move has been hailed as a positive step forward for the community.
Chair of Finance and Acquisitions, Councillor Phil Jordan said:
“I’d like to thank Simon Meek of Wrights Estate Agency for helping us secure this building for the town and community, especially as I know there were numbers of other interested parties wanting to acquire the church. The owner and Simon stuck with us as the Council went through its internal processes and committed to getting the transaction with Ryde Council done.
“We have great plans for the community use of the building and this purchase is the start of an exciting youth project as Ryde Council invest in the future at the same time as rescuing and restoring our heritage buildings in the town. “
Simon Meek of The Wright Estate Agency says:
“Ryde Town Council were the perfect buyers as buying/owning a church is not for the faint-hearted. There are many layers of restrictions to consider and any improvements or alterations need to be dealt with professionally and sympathetically. We look forward to seeing it up and running under its new guise”
This is great news for the Children and their parents in Ryde and nearby villages as I can remember when growing up in Ryde in the 70’S and 80’S going to Ryde youth Club and we had great fun and there was always something to do!
that was then kids do other things now like computers and violence, I hope it is very succesful and they do wonderful things, the place is truly lovely i would go there for meetings and to meet more people,
There was violence in the 70 s and 80 s too
But also a lot more to do for teenagers then
So this plan for the church is fantastic news it will give the youngsters something to look forward to
One hopes they fit sprinklers, likely torched within the year.