A GRATEFUL pastor of an Oldbury church has thanked house builder and refurbishment specialist Lovell for transforming the church's kitchen with a complete refit.

The work was done for free at Hope Church through Sandwell Council's Hands-on Help scheme, which sees the council's housing improvement contractors offering their services to good causes in the communities they work.

Hope Church's pastor Dave Hancox said: "We're very grateful to Sandwell Council and to Lovell who have done a fantastic job.

“The tired old 1980s-style kitchen has been completely transformed. These new facilities mean we can now open a luncheon club for local elderly people and also provide some structured catering training for young people."

The kitchen transformation at the St James Road church includes new cupboards, worktops, tiles, electrical wiring, switches and plugs, sinks, taps and plumbing, flooring and paint. Lovell provided all the materials and labour for the project.

The company’s project manager, Andy Taylor, said: "When we work in a community, especially for as long as we've worked in Sandwell - we really like to get involved and become a part of it.

“Being able to help out at Hope Church has been really rewarding for us and it's great to know just how much difference this work will make and what it means to the church and the people who use it.

"We're particularly delighted the new kitchen will be used for providing catering for young people. As a company we believe strongly in the value of investing in high-quality training for our young people, so we see this move from the church as an incredibly positive step."

Sandwell's cabinet member for housing, Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, said, “I’m delighted that local community facilities are benefitting from the expertise and generosity of our housing improvement contractors.

“It’s excellent news that the church is now able to run a regular luncheon club providing hot meals for isolated local people as a result of the facelift its kitchen has received, courtesy of Lovell.”