A disused chapel in the village of Whetstone is being given a second lease of life as an accessible community hub, thanks to grant funding of £57,532 from the Severn Trent Community Fund. 

The building is one of several brought by disabled charity, Mosaic 1898. Based in Blaby, Mosaic 1898 has been delivering holistic, person-centred projects and services in Leicester and Leicestershire for 127 years.

The charity currently supports more than 3,500 families and works with people aged from 5 to 95, providing vital care, support, and recreation activities to disabled adults, children, and their caregivers.

Mosaic 1898 purchased the chapel, alongside a community centre and four-bedroom house, for conversion into community spaces, as part of its Whetstone Hub project.

While the first phase of the project focused on refurbishing the community centre and house, the second phase is focussed on the redevelopment of the chapel. 

The chapel has already undergone some initial works, including clearing and cleaning out the interior, repairing leaks in the roof, and erection of interior walls for disabled bathrooms.

The grant from the Community Fund will be used to complete the works, covering the cost of installation of new electrics, plumbing, flooring, buying furniture, and painting and decorating. 

Once works are complete, the chapel will allow Mosaic 1898 to run new community projects and initiatives, new partnerships to develop and delivery of health and wellbeing services working with the NHS and local authority.

Zoheb Shariff, Mosaic 1898, said: “The chapel has served the community for well over a century, but in recent years, it's been derelict, and risks being lost. This project will act as a catalyst to further our work in enhancing the lives of disabled people and creatubg spaces where communities can thrive.

“We want to create a place where everyone is welcome, a place of community spirit, work, and volunteering opportunities, and above all else positive impact for all – offering a vibrant accessible space for events, with flexible facilities for workshops, outreach projects, and other activities, from youth and family events to cultural and wellbeing programs.

“This project will have a profound, lasting impact on our community, we know this through our extensive consultations, research, and local engagement and we want to express how grateful we are to the Severn Trent Community Fund for selecting us for this funding.”

While the earlier works were funded through grants from Blaby District Council and Community ownership Funding from the Department of Levelling UP, Housing and Communities.

Sue Heyes, Severn Trent Community Fund Officer, said: “Time and again, we see that communities without adequate, multi-use, shared spaces miss out on some wonderful opportunities to bring people together to benefit from services, or just to spend time with one another.

“We’re really pleased that our funding panel selected the Whetstone Hub project to receive this funding for what we’re sure will be a fantastic addition to the local community.”

To find out more about the Severn Trent Community Fund, visit stwater.co.uk and search for Community Fund.