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The vicar of St Matthew’s Church has noticed more people in the Millbrook area are struggling – isolated, battling mental health challenges, and wrestling with financial hardship in the wake of the pandemic. But his congregation is trying to address this by providing a “vessel of hope”, with plans for a new community centre to replace the “outdated” facilities…
Reverend Phill Warren is spearheading efforts to replace the 70-year-old hall adjacent to the Glass Church in St Lawrence and its surrounding buildings with a “modern” community centre and “multi-use space” designed to accommodate a variety of activities and services for islanders of all ages.
He described the vision as creating “a vessel of hope,” where residents can find “belonging, support, and a sense of community.”
“This is a community thing,” he said. “Our strapline for the vision is: 'In the community, for the community, serving the community.'
"It’s about creating something not just for now but for generations to come.”
Pictured: Plans have been submitted to demolish the church hall, vicarage and other outbuildings to build a two-storey community centre.
The Hope Centre’s plans include a café, a large auditorium for events and activities, meeting rooms, and dedicated spaces for support groups such as Dementia Jersey.
It will also feature facilities for young people – potentially even a climbing wall – and a “warm room” where residents struggling with the cost of heating their homes can gather during the colder months.
Two one-bedroom homes and 30 parking spaces are also included in the proposal.
Mr Warren felt this space was important to address the lack of community spaces and facilities in the area.
“There’s not much in this area for community groups," he said. “You often have to go into town or out west to find something similar. We want to change that."
Although St Matthew’s Church has provided a place for support, healing, and connection in the area for the past two decades, Reverend Warren said the existing facilities no longer meet the community’s growing needs.
Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have been turned away due to limited space, while outdated infrastructure at the site makes maintenance costly and inefficient.
“We do what we can in terms of offering facilities and places for people to come, but we're limited,” Reverend Warren said.
"People deserve better. The buildings we have just aren’t the modern-day facilities that people would expect.”
In addition to this, he explained that the Church congregation spends between £15 and £20k each year to make any necessary repairs and improvements to keep the buildings “wind and watertight” – which he described as “money down the drain.”
Reverend Warren added: “Heating is costly due to outdated materials used in the walls and ceiling structure, our disabled access is not sufficient or welcoming, our toilet facilities are poor, our kitchen is too small, we try to make the most of the space but our private rooms are inadequate.
“And overall the centre lacks flexibility and functionality.”
The Reverend, who has led St Matthew’s church for 21 years, described the initiative as a direct response to the increasing struggles faced by islanders in the wake of the pandemic.
Pictured: Phill Warren, vicar of Matthew’s Church, also known as the Glass Church.
Reverend Warren said: “I think the reality is probably everyone, including myself, has struggled at different points, and no one seems to be completely unaffected it.
“The impact of COVID was bigger than we thought and we're catching up on the impact on things like mental health.
“The cost of living is certainly one of those reasons behind it. But I think there's something deeper and fundamental uncertainty for a lot of people about what the future looks like.
“Another aspect is community, the individualistic society that we've kind of grown up in and lived in is not working.
“There are more needs, more brokenness, more loneliness, more people going through real struggles in life.”
The planning application for the site, located between Victoria Avenue and La Route de St Aubin, had to be resubmitted after similar plans were withdrawn in June.
This came after officers recommended that the plans by Waddington Architects for the project adjacent to the Grade 1-listed St Matthew’s Church be refused.
The assessment report issued ahead of the Planning Committee’s meeting in June stated that, while the principle of replacing the hall was considered acceptable, its scale and mass were not considered appropriate, breaching several planning policies.
In response, the revised plans have scaled back the height of the centre's roof, and reduced the residential units from three- to one-bedroom.
The proposed changes would not alter the "external or interior" fabric of the church, according to Reverend Warren, who added that the building would continue to be used as an active place of worship.
A statement supporting the planning application said: “For over 20 years, St Matthew’s Church has provided such a space of healing and hope, where no other facility exists in the Millbrook, and wider, area.
“However, what we offer is increasingly restricted by our outdated buildings, limited space, poor resources and facilities.
“There is so much more that we could do in and for our growing community with a modern, accessible, disability-friendly and welcoming space where anyone and everyone can bring their families, children, neighbours and loved ones, and know there is someone for them and somewhere to go.”
The main structure of St Matthew's Glass Church was constructed in 1840 when a chapel was built for the growing population in the Millbrook area.
A Grade 1 Listed building, it is described on the island's historic buildings register as "one of the most interesting and significant twentieth-century buildings in Jersey, representing a collaboration of the work of locally renowned modern movement architect, AB Grayson, and the world-famous glass designer René Lalique."
Millbrook Playing Field was gifted to the public by a mystery benefactor who spent £700,000 to buy the field from the descendants of philanthropist Florence Boot – with a portion of the land going to the Glass Church community.
The application can be read in full HERE.
Major plans to revamp "renowned" Glass Church with homes and café
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