The Roxburgh Baptist Church board was delighted to receive $35,000 from the Central Lakes Trust to assist in the costs of a church extension and setting up a food bank pantry for the community.

The grant was one of 14 in the trust’s August funding round, totaling $415,754 and bringing the total grants approved to date for the financial year ending March 31, 2024 to $3.7M.

Board secretary Shirley Taylor said the church building (in the town’s main street) was originally a service station.

“We have already completed renovations in the church that include new chairs, carpet and re-painting of the inside of the church,” she said. 

“We want to make a larger foyer area that gives internal access to the toilets and add another servery to free up the congestion in the kitchen. 

“We will also be adding two new heat pumps in the existing and new foyer areas to make the area warmer and more inviting. The extension will add another 18 square metres to the existing foyer area, allowing us the opportunity to further provide outreach for the community.”

The exterior of the Roxburgh Baptist Church shows the foyer area that will be expanded and the current entrance to the toilets (at right).

A builder has been engaged to start the work in early September. 

Some of the grant would also be used to set up a dedicated food bank, as the church currently has a very small food bank run by one volunteer.

“The folks in the church wanted to be more visual and helpful in providing additional

facilities for the community in the valley,” Shirley said.

Some people in need were travelling to Alexandra to access the Combined Churches Food Bank run by the Salvation Army Alexandra Corps, so the church decided to set up a local alternative.

A committee had been set up to oversee the food bank and a container would arrive this week, to be outfitted with a fridge, a freezer, and other necessities. Those involved would spend some time at the Alexandra food bank “seeing how they do things”, Shirley said.

She said the church was doing well, with an average congregation of 50 or 60 people when RSE workers were in the valley, and remaining on average at about 30 during winter, and they very much appreciated the Central Lakes Trust grant.

“We are absolutely delighted,” she said. “We have savings towards the work we wanted but we don’t have enough to do everything.”