In 2001 the decision was made to demolish St Luke's Parish Church in Grimethorpe, South Yorkshire. The church was built in 1904 - ' a church built by the Miners for the Miners.' This large red brick church was a symbol not just of faith, but the very heart of Grimethorpe's Mining Heritage. With severe degeneration of the village and area after the closure of the pit, coking plant and power station in 1993, the church saw a decline in numbers, vandalism struck, and the future of the proud church looked bleak. In 2002, the newly appointed priest Fr Peter Needham, along with the Bishop of Wakefield, Archdeacon of Pontefract, Jeff Ennis MP and local regeneration Officers met and came up with the idea to save the Parish Church. The idea was to use the main part of the Church as a Village Hall - not a Church Hall, but a Hall for the Village. In 2003, the 'St Luke's Grimethorpe Fund' began. |