Wymondham Baptist Church (WBC), as part of its wider vision, is planning to build an extension to further the support it can give to the community. In the last year we have through grants and direct giving raised over £400,000 towards the extension, which we hope to start building this summer. We still need to raise another £90,000. Can you help us?

I am going to swim 10,000 metres and would ask if you would sponsor me. I reckon it will take me up to 5 hours to do this. At the young age of 70 I think it is too ambitious for me to attempt this all at once, so I plan to do it over 5 days, thus swimming 2,000 metres each day (a new take on “interval” swimming, with a slightly longer rest than usual between swims!). But that still means swimming over a mile each day.

I will update the table below each day to show what I have achieved and at the end of the week will also post a copy of the distance swam from the smartwatch I will be wearing. I plan to start on Monday 3rd March, finishing on Friday 7th March.

For those who would like to know more details about the church and the project, please read on below the table.

My target is to swim 2,000 metres each day. the actual distance swam each day is:

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

The vision of WBC is to be: ‘an authentic

church with a place for everyone’

Wymondham Baptist Church (WBC) is a small church with a big heart for our community which we have served for over a hundred years. In 2017 our 39 members (now nearly 60) adopted a new vision to be a church where everyone feels welcome, safe and supported. In addition to operating as a place of worship, we open our doors to a variety of ventures, events, meetings and community services. These have been so successful we are supporting members of the community that professional services struggle to reach and we welcome those members of the community who feel they are not welcome or ‘do not fit’ elsewhere.

Our work includes amongst other things: Roots Community Café, Thrive Youth Café, Food Bank, Youth Group, Home Groups, Warm Space, a ‘uniform bank’ to access school uniforms for free and recycling outgrown ones, Pop up restaurant, Eco events, Greening Wymondham litter pick, Safeguarding courses, Bereavement support group, Men’s Health group, advice from Shelter and Citizens Advice, a base for Norfolk Family Hub. We also lead the annual Tools with a Mission collection (TWAM) for the locality.

Our church members are integral to the delivery of all that is offered, each spending countless volunteer hours dedicating themselves to delivering our vision. But as more people come through our doors, the extent to which we can continue supporting our community is limited by the size and layout of our existing building. In order to both maintain and increase our support we need to extend our building.

The project

An extension to our church building, adding 128 square metres of additional space which is well designed, fit for purpose, agile in its use, more eco-efficient whilst also providing a spacious entrance foyer that meets accessibility standards. We own our church building, have secured full planning permission, completed detail design work and are at the point of seeking tenders from builders. As an established church and Charitable Incorporated Organisation, we have the required governance, finance, training and policy structures in place to support delivery of this project. Please note that our vision stretches a lot further than just extending our building. The building is the facility to enable us to reach and support more members of our community.

The need

Wymondham is one of the fastest growing towns in the country, growing by over 57% since 1991. Despite being ‘a nice place to live’, evidence shows that our community is suffering from higher than national average rates of suicide and higher self-reported anxiety levels. Both are linked to a range of health and wellbeing issues which are further exacerbated by a rise in loneliness. With so many new people coming to our town it is not surprising that loneliness is common, especially as ‘community infrastructure’ has not kept up with this vast rate of growth.

The demand

Demonstrated through just one of our projects; Roots Community Café opened in 2017 and has grown far quicker than we imagined. We have 80 - 100 people coming through our doors twice a week. The café prides itself on offering a place for people to come, taking extra time to welcome those who arrive alone. It’s a support network first and café second and has led to us identifying additional needs resulting in additional services.

The impact

We currently have approx. 275 people through our doors each week. This building project will not only increase this number, but we are also committed to monitoring the wider outcomes including: A reduction in people experiencing loneliness and/or suffering from mental and physical health conditions; Increase in number of groups, organisations, events and services offered from our building; Increase in volunteers and work experience placements.

The budget

The total budget cost is £519,835. Through a combination of some wonderful funders plus the generosity of our members and their often-creative fund raising efforts we have raised £428,447 to date. In order to start our project as planned in summer 2025, we seek your help to close our final funding gap of £91,091.

Feedback received from a questionnaire at Roots Community Café

‘Roots is a superb example of how a community can be supported and brought together by a well-run organisation – it really is exceptional.’

‘I heard about Roots while attending the Bereavement Support group. I’ve met a lot of interesting people. I feel part of a community. I think you’re doing great, keep going!’

‘The atmosphere is calming and welcoming. The people are friendly and always make time to talk to everyone.’

‘Knowing you have a friendly place to be able to go to if needed is important, especially after a weekend.’

‘I started coming 5 weeks ago. Love it so much I have become a volunteer!’

Thanks to our wonderful funders who have already committed to our project:

Greater Norwich Growth Board, South Norfolk Councils Pride in Place and Community Action Funds, Congregational & General Charitable Trust, Paul Bassham Charitable Trust, Laing Family Trust, Norwood and Newton Settlement, Geoffrey Watling.