PROJECT Gateway blog - MARCH 2026

CHURCH REOPENS

It’s been very busy since our last post back in December! The Nave and the majority of the church meeting rooms and offices have now reopened!

Find out more below…

The Big Move BACK!

Thanks to the amazing church family and help from Ash, we had a fantastic team of helpers who moved everything back into church!

Here’s a few photos of some of the brilliant team…

What’s church like now?

Take a look at the photos below to see how all the changes are looking…

• Nave renovations complete with new efficient lighting, audio visual updates, new flooring and refreshed paintwork. You can see in the photos that a small section of the dais and one side chapel is fenced off to allow the contractors to work on the Youth and Community Centre (YCC) which will adjoin the Nave. But, services are now back in church!

• Completely refurbished electrical, heating, water and drainage systems throughout the building making the building more efficient and fit for the 21st century. Nothing much to see, but a big difference in the efficiency of the building!

• Refreshed meeting roomsand office spaces with newly painted walls, doors, new ceilings, new radiators and electrical circuits and sockets.

• A new lift has been installed to replace the old one which had reached it’s end of life.

• New folding doors to separate the Nave and the café space, great for flexible use of the space by different groups.

• Additional smart new toilet facilities installed on the first floor, including a new disabled access toilet.

• Updated kitchen and servery facilities on the first and second floors with new cupboards, worktops and fresh paintwork.

• New flooring throughout the building.

And, you can see the Youth and Community Centre starting to take shape…

Refurbished Nave with hoardings for completion of the adjoining YCC

First service back in the Nave at 9 am on the 15th March 2026

Skylight meeting room with new windows, fresh paint, carpet, raidators and electrical sockets

Forum meeting room with fresh paint, new carpet, radiators and electrical sockets

Octagon meeting room with an interim youth set up plus refreshed, paintwork, carpet, heating, ventilation and electrical sockets.

First floor toilets - new cubicles each with a toilet and basin

North Porch Door with new church logo and welcome message

Foundations and steel structure for the YCC at the back of the church

Finance update

The latest update on the project finances are:

• Projected Total Cost - c£5.6m (of which we will be able to reclaim about c£300k of VAT back).

• Total Raised - c£4.9m, including £900k in grants, £4m in gifts from the congregation.

• Mortgage to cover any shortfall has been secured - all future gifts will reduce the amount we borrow.

What’s happening next ?

• The plan for the brick façade on the Youth & Community Centre needs to be granted approval by Woking Borough Council.

• Groundworks have completed and the steel structure is in place to start the construction of the new Youth and Community Centre.

Latest programme update…

Here’s the latest forecast of completion dates for different sections of the building:

• End of August 2026 - date targeted for completion of the Youth & Community Centre

We are really grateful to Ash who are working really hard to minimise delays, despite a number of challenges, whilst still delivering high quality work.

Find out more

If you want more information about the project, or to find out how you can support it financially, take a look at our Gateway pages on ChristChurch’s website, or you can chat to any of the members of the team: Adrian Beavis (Vicar), Steve Roberts (Project Leader), Walter Coxon (Finance), Mike Pearce (Technical), Peter Wichmann (CCW building knowledge and expertise), Rachael Purvis (Project Coordinator). If you’d like to email us with a specific query you can do so at this email address: gateway@ccwoking.org.