Tag: Boddan Lodge

• Monton Unitarian Church plan to use the site to build a community centre
• The land will be used for community events prior to building works commencing
• Locals will have opportunities to engage in future fundraising activities

Monton Unitarian Church has confirmed that the site of the now-demolished Boddan Lodge is to be set aside for a multi-use, eco-friendly building.

The site now sits empty after locals witnessed demolition works taking place over the weekend of 24 February.

Now, the Church have revealed their ambitions to build a two-storey community building on the land, which they had previously leased to Salford City Council.

Reverend Anna Jarvis, who has been Minister of the Church since 2015, told Monton Matters that the land may be used by the community for various events and activities before building works eventually commence.

Boddan Lodge had been home to the Over 60s Club on Church land leased to Salford City Council for over 60 years, but after the council withdrew from the lease, the Church received the keys back in June last year.

Despite joint efforts between the Church and council to maintain the building over the past six years, the Church has ‘reached the point of acknowledging that Boddan Lodge as a physical structure is no longer viable or repairable, and must be permanently closed for health and safety reasons,’ a press release on the church website reads.

At the announcement, some locals took to social media to express concern that the council might erect housing on the site, but the Church is keen to dispel any rumours of this nature.

“You are not going to see [residential buildings] at all. There is absolutely no plan, and we wouldn’t get a past planning permission even if there was, to put any sort of residential accommodation there,” Rev. Anna confirmed.

“It is going to be community purpose building. It’s not the council’s land. It’s the church’s land.

“We did a big consultation last summer, and we got a lot of really positive feedback about wanting to do a community building. That was great, because it was just reinforcing what we wanted to do.”

Prior to its demolition, all plaques and important items, including inscriptions from the benches outside, were saved and will be put on display in the new building as an homage to Boddan Lodge.

Depending on planning, the minister expressed her wishes to create a large, open, downstairs space with a stage and lighting to facilitate pantomimes, concerts, and large functions such as wedding receptions.

Multiple upstairs rooms will be available for smaller groups to make use of, or for locals to use as a communal office space for an alternative to working from home.

Outside, the lawn may be used for picnics and yoga classes, and Rev. Anna hopes to establish a community vegetable patch with raised beds to ensure accessibility to all.

“There’s certain criteria that I really want to make sure the building meets,” Rev. Anna commented.

“It’s got to be multipurpose, and it’s got to be eco friendly, as green as we can possibly make it, so environmentally-wise, it leaves as small an impact as possible.”

The church is currently considering various means of fundraising, including a buy-a-brick scheme, where locals can donate a minimum of one pound which will represent one brick in the final building, encouraging a sense of community ownership over the new building.

Rev. Anna alluded to the possibility of other fundraising events such as concerts, but explained that the church will also be submitting numerous grant funding applications.

Due to the lengthy designing, planning, and funding processes yet to commence, it is currently estimated that it will be a minimum of two years before building works begin.

In the interim, there are plans to make use of the land for various community events, including private-hire functions such as birthday parties.

Rev Anna said: “We don’t want it just to sit there and do nothing because that would be a big shame.

It is a big lawn, and we’re hoping, for the Great Get Together in memory of Jo Cox, to have a picnic on the law for as much of Monton as wants to turn up.

“People can hire it, put marquees up, have a 60th birthday party, in fact there’s already one of those booked!

“We’re looking at ways where it can start immediately being of use to the community.”

Initial ideas also include welcoming pop-up street food vendors to use the space on a regular basis, and also establishing vegetable and gardening spaces which form part of her long-term plans for the community building.

While owned by Monton Unitarian Church, which was the first church in Salford to hold a same-sex wedding, which, Rev. Anna was eager to emphasise that the venue will be welcoming of all: “As Unitarians, our very ethos is that everybody is welcome.

“We welcome people regardless of their background, their sexuality, their gender, who they are, what they’ve done, their past. You are a human being, you are worthy of being here. We want to welcome you.

“We want it to be a space of respect so that everybody knows that they’re here and they will be respected for who and what they are.

“A space of care and compassion, so that whoever turns up here, whatever event they’re turning up for, they’re going to be looked after. They’re going to be okay, it’s a safe space.”

The Church are now looking for and accepting help from the community to bring the planned space to fruition.

“We’ll be looking for any companies that do want to get involved either with a corporate grant or just a slightly bigger donation than an individual can make.

“Any sort of any sort of involvement that people feel that they can offer, whether it’s in writing bids, any skills that people have got in in planning things or knowing how to get the word out there, or anything like that, we’d love for you to come and get involved.

“We’re putting together a team of people from within the church. We’re more than happy for people from the community to come and join in as well and help us make this the success that we want it to be.”

Locals are welcomed to get in touch, whether to hire the land or to offer any help they can, by contacting Rev. Anna at: minister@montonunitarianchurch.com