THIS is how a newly refurbished community hall in York will look once it has undergone a £400,000 refurb.

The church hall at St Edward The Confessor in Tadcaster Road, Dringhouses, hopes to raise the cash to renovate the hall with new kitchens and toilets, and connect it to the church.

Earlier this year, the church received a £250,000 grant from a local charitable group which asked to remain anonymous.

The church recently received a donation of more than £9,000 and is currently applying for further grants.

Architect Mark Tabert has drawn up detailed plans for the project and fundraisers want to do a lot to the building including renewing the heating, adding windows in the roof with internal blinds, taking out the chimney stacks and insulating the walls and ceiling.

They also want to upgrade the external area of the Scout hall and install electrical features such as screens and projectors for Powerpoint presentations.

A spokeswoman for the church and fundraising committee said: “This is an expensive wish list so the cost of the overall project may well be greater than estimated nearly two years ago if we go for all of these. Also, building costs are increasing rapidly.

“We are still hoping to start the work after Easter 2014 but the features we can have will depend on how much money we have raised by then.

“Huge thanks to everyone involved for organising the many ongoing fundraising activities.”

The hall is used by a wide variety of groups including Probus, the University of the Third Age, the Dringhouses local history group and yoga and art clubs.

If you can make a donation or know of any group, trust or business to whom the church can apply for a grant, please email the parish office at parishoffice@care4free.net