Heaven sent

HOME sweet home . . . Fresh Church prepare to move into the former housing office in Sholver. From left, church elder Ken Laming, Councillor Roger Hindle and Pastor Terry Durose

AN Oldham church’s prayers have been answered after 13 years without a permanent home.

Fresh Church is to take over a former First Choice Homes area housing office, in Coleridge Road, Sholver and transform it into a community hub.

The church, currently based at Sholver Integrated Youth Centre, started out its spiritual life at Moorside Cricket and Bowling Club in 2002. A bit of divine intervention led the independent evangelical church to make an offer for the housing office. Now Oldham Council has granted permission to change the office to a place of worship.

Pastor Terry Durose (54) said: “I’m delighted to hear that we’ve got planning permission. It’s great news. We’ve spent the past 11 years renting other places so this is great. We’ve still got to go through the legal process and get the keys to the building, so it might be a few days before we can actually get inside.”

Terry said moving into their own premises would also allow Fresh Church to reach out to the community and offer space to groups such as mums and tots and other local organisations.