Anyone visiting St Mary’s over the past few months will have noticed that there has been quite a lot of building work going on inside the church.

New kitchen facilities have been installed so that refreshments can be served after services or concerts. There is a glass fronted children’s room so that children can see the service and be part of it whilst also having a comfortable and warm space for their own activities. The church has installed toilets and has created flexible space inside St Mary’s by removing pews and buying chairs which can be moved as needed.

The Rev’d Sarah Jones told the Ross Gazette: “We really wanted to provide proper facilities for the town for services and events and to make people comfortable and welcome when they visit St Mary’s.

“St Mary’s is the church for the whole town and so we’d like to invite everybody to an Open Weekend on Saturday, February 24th and Sunday, February 25th, where they can see the new facilities and find out what goes on at their parish church.”

The Open Weekend will include open access to the new facilities along with over 20 stalls and displays showing the outreach and pastoral work of St Mary’s. There are guided tours of the Tower and Churchyard and an opportunity to ask as many questions as you like.

On Saturday evening there is a community concert by The Roaring Megs and The Phoenix Theatre Singers and the whole weekend will be rounded off with an opportunity for people to come and sing a celebration Evensong at 4pm on Sunday with St Mary’s choir.

The Open Weekend is free and runs from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, February 24th and from 12noon to 4pm on Sunday, February 25th.

Full details are on St Mary’s website http://rawchurch.org.uk and on their Facebook page.