Over the last few months, Christ Church Methodist and United Reformed Church has been carrying out a community consultation process to understand what the people of Ross-on-Wye think about their ideas for a new building on their site at Edde Cross Street.

The idea for a new community space is not simply a new church, but a ‘NEST’, a place of safety, sanctuary and support for all people, particularly at vulnerable stages in life.

The consultation, run by Onion Collective, aimed to better understand whether local people supported the ideas for a community space, and to discuss what ideas people might have for activities that that would really help to make a positive difference in Ross.

Over 200 people took part in some way and results were extremely positive. Survey participants had to rank how important they thought various ideas for supporting the community might be. The top three most important objectives were: A welcoming place for all the community; Support for the elderly and carers; Help combating isolation.

People also wanted there to be strong partnership working with other community support providers, that the building could help tackle isolation, that it supported both the elderly and young people and teenagers.

Christ Church will now look to the next stage of moving on with the project, which involves identifying funding streams to apply to for grant funding, and developing the process which will take them through to the planning stages. See the full story in tomorrow's edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition.