St Leonard’s Church welcomes more people though its doors thanks to a £73,000 grant from Veolia

A church is now able to welcome even more people through its doors as it has improved access for disabled people and installed new bathroom facilities for them.

Thanks to a grant of £73,000 from waste company Veolia through its Environmental Trust, it has helped the oldest building in Streatham, St Leonard’s Church, welcome more of the community through its doors.

The donation allowed for an update to its facilities including new access ramps and wheelchair friendly toilets, improving the church’s capacity to host community events, without impacting its listed status.

Paul Taylor, executive director for Veolia Trust, said: “Projects that create inclusion are ones we’re always happy to support through The Landfill Communities Fund, and by giving St Leonard’s Church the opportunity to update its accessibility, we’ve helped them to bring more of the community together.

This is one of five projects we’ve supported in Lambeth recently and we hope to help more in the future.” The Veolia Environmental Trust supports community and environmental projects through the Landfill Communities Fund.

St Leonard’s Church is one of five projects in Lambeth to be awarded funding over the past 12 months, making £270,000 awarded to not-for-profit groups in the borough in total.

The church is home to a variety of community groups and events so improvements to its facilities was key in ensuring inclusion among all visitors.

To celebrate its recent refurbishments, St Leonard’s Church invited Streatham’s elderly population to its Holiday at Home events last week, only made possible by the redevelopment work.

The church’s improvements will now increase its capacity to provide further volunteering opportunities for both young and old.