Funding boost for the Madoch Centre
St Madoes hopes to open site in September
The congregation at St Madoes and Kinfauns Parish Church is celebrating after being awarded muchneeded funding.
The parish’s Madoch Centre Community Facilities for All project in the Carse of Gowrie has been awarded £42,000 from the SUEZ Communities Trust.
It will go towards developing recreational facilities in St Madoes, including creating a community hub to support those suffering from social isolation.
The ambitious £1.5m project is being supported by the Church of Scotland’s general trustees, and is just one of a series of church developments being made.
The plan for the Madoch Centre aims to create a multi-purpose centre complete with a gym hall, meeting rooms, office, soft play area and a sensory garden.
As the nearby St Madoes Primary School often struggles to find space for their school assemblies, the new hub at the Madoch Centre hopes to be able to offer them a large conference area, which will also be used for church services.
A weekday cafe will also be set up in the parish church’s worship space.
Rev Marc Bircham, minister of St Madoes and Kinfauns Parish The new community building for St Madoes and Kinfauns is continuing to take shape
Church, said: “Without question, I’d recommend congregations across Scotland to contact the General Trustees for support on projects like this. We are very grateful for their support and assistance during this process.
“The sources of funding have been quite varied, from ScotRail to Tesco, European-LEADER
to SportScotland. It has been particularly encouraging to see folk out with the church giving their time and talents.
“We hope the centre will become a catalyst for building God’s kingdom. It will also be a space where folk can gather, combatting social isolation and building friendships. Currently we
are working with a whole variety of other community groups and agencies to meet community needs.”
The parish congregation will move to its new home on Sunday, September 17, with an opening ceremony organised by Perth and Kinross Council as part of Perth’s bid for UK City of Culture 2021.