LEADERS of a church looking to create a new £2 million place of worship and community facility in Bradford city centre have said they will "build as quickly as funds allow."

Sunbridge Road Mission has just received planning permission from Bradford Council for a more modern and expansive facility on a site between Sunbridge Road and Thornton Road, almost directly opposite its current base on Gaynor Street, where the church has existed for well over a century.

Pastor Phil Dyson said the growth of the church had led to the idea of moving to bigger premises first being discussed around 12 years ago.

"We have a very diverse congregation, all different cultures, backgrounds, and walks of life," he said.

"Over the last ten years, we've developed other services such as debt counselling, english classes, and these areas are developing further.

"We also work with the homeless, those with addiction problems, and asylum seekers.

"There is so much need, and people are coming to church to meet those needs.

"Our goal is to give as many people the opportunity to hear what Christ can do.

"To develop all we want to do, we feel we need new facilities to do that.

"The church for us is not the building, it's the people.

"But, we've been here since 1889, and we felt strongly committed to the area."

The church paid £296,000 for the 9,200 sqm site where the new facility will be built, the main part of which will include a 470-seat auditorium.

The building will also have a creche, cafe and kitchen, meeting rooms, offices, ancillary accommodation, a food bank, and a 160-space car park.

The new venue would open from 8am to 11pm, hosting ten full-time and five part-time jobs.

More than £560,000 had been raised towards the project by last year, and project manager Ian Thompson said fundraising for the new venture was an ongoing process.

"We could have moved further afield to a site which would have been far cheaper and easier, but our DNA is here among this community, so it was about finding the right premises here, which took quite a search," he said.

"We couldn't have expanded here, the only way we could have built was up. We were landlocked.

"By moving across the road we could keep the same name, and we really felt we wanted to stay in this community.

"It's getting a balance between what you want to do and what you can realistically afford to do. The whole point was to find somewhere that would allow us to expand and do more.

"We're a church, and we want to reach people. This is about seeing a vision fulfilled.

"We've paid for the land, and we still have money in the bank.

"As we sit here today, we don't have the money to complete the project, so it's a matter of seeking funding.

"Around 95 per cent of what we have done has been self-funded, which is amazing, but we are looking at external funding and we will build as quickly as possible.

"The timescale is simply as quickly as funds allow."

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