Welcome to our Porch Project news page. Here you can find out what has happened and what is due to happen as we renovate the porch and install bespoke glass doors.
The church is so grateful to those who have already made a donation to the project, but we still have a long way to go. If you would like to make a donation you can either make a BACS transfer or send a cheque to the Church Secretary, please see below for details.
For BACS transfers our account is
Lloyds Bank:
Account Name: Sturry & DIstrict United Church Sort Code 30 91 60 Account Number 00823060
Please make cheques payable to “Sturry & District United Church” and send to The Secretary, c/o 88,Sweechgate, Broad Oak, Canterbury, Kent CT2 0QU
08/02/2026 We are pleased to report that the porch works are well on their way to being completed. We look forward to installation of the glass doors once they have been manufactured. We are delighted to be able to welcome Junior King’s School for their service of Evensong this evening. We are very grateful to them for kindly offering to donate the retiring collection to the project.
28/01/2026 There will be a site meeting at 8.30 on 30 January to look at the porch work. It is hoped that building work will start soon after that and that we will have a visit from a spcialis ecology group regarding the bats. The FoSN have made an offer of a generous contribution of £6000 towards the scheme. It is hoped that we will be in time to claim the VAT from the Listed Places of Worship scheme (est £3500) and that there will still be money “left in the pot
21/12/2025 We reported previously the suspension of the porch works because of the presence of bats. On Thursday, 18 December, a bat expert came to advise. Work can start again after the Christmas / New Year break, but our expert needs to be on site to advise further. In the longer term, we can live with the bats but we need to make sure we do not obstruct their coming and going or their possible habitat. The expert will help us with that. The good news is that the project to improve the north entrance can go ahead