A church in a tight knit village is at risk of being lost forever. It sits in the heart of the Aberkenfig and has been a key fixture of the Christian community, providing services that have been a lifeline for lots of people living there.
There are a handful of key resources at Community Church Aberkenfig that have made a difference to people over the years, including a foodbank, craft meetings and a group dedicated to supporting local teenagers. The 21st Century church was first set up in the YMCA of Bridgend and moved to Aberkenfig in 2002, but now it could soon be taken over by anyone, as it is due to be auctioned at the end of May.
Over the years the vision and mission have developed to address the needs of people living in the area, and “pass on a legacy for the future”, according to their website. Welsh Revival Alliance is determined to buy the church and restore the building as soon as it can, and has got the community rallying behind them to help them save it as well.
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They have already raised over £16,000, and now a separate fundraiser has been set up by a local resident called Leanne Wallace, who has raised over £5,000 of her £100,000 goal on gofundme. Her hope is that even if the fundraiser is not successful, the money can be used to acquire an alternative building to support the work of Wales Revival Alliance.
Leanne, who recently moved back to the area after living abroad, told WalesOnline: "I was talking about how we could raise the money to save the church a little while back and came up with the idea of doing an online fundraiser. I wondered if it was even possible for us to start a fundraiser to save a church, and then I went on the site and had seen that similar things had been done before so decided to set one up.
"The reason I wanted to set this up is because for me, everything revolves around God. To me, that's the centre of everything. It's important to the people who go to this church that this building stays in the Christian community."
She also said on her fundraising page: "When I heard that the building was being sold and knowing all the good works that the building is used for, I knew that I needed to set up this GoFundMe page to help secure the building for the future of the community.
"The building will be going up for auction very soon and needs extensive refurbishment. A church was first planted in this former cinema and bingo hall in 2002 by Pastor John Marshall and team and it has continued to serve the community with Christian worship, foodbank, Alzheimer's club, C.A.P, youth & kids clubs and much more.
"The current church members are moving to a different location and plan to continue these works in their new location."
Leanne also highlighted the financial requirements of buying the church, highlighting that the most important thing is securing the funds to purchase it. Following that, she believes "extensive refurbishment" is needed to restore and enhance it to its full potential.
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