Redevelopment of former church into a multi-use community hub in Salford

CEDE Foundation is a charitable company, established in 2008 to provide a programme of child education development and empowerment (CEDE) activities to Greater Manchester’s hard-to-reach children and young people, to help them engage in society as independent, mature and responsible individuals. The Foundation’s activities have since expanded to help empower and support communities who experience the effects of multiple deprivation. This is achieved through a range of early intervention support including employability skills training, health and fitness, social inclusion and active citizenship.

In 2015 they took on an ambitious project to transform the disused former St Ignatius Rectory and St Ignatius Church in Ordsall, Salford, which had been vacant for 37 years, and turn it into a multi-purpose community centre, incorporating conference and training facilities for the benefit of its beneficiaries and the wider community.

The AHF is delighted to be part of this redevelopment project, supporting CEDE Foundation with a tailored loan investment package totalling £300,000 towards converting this historic Grade II listed building into a multi-purpose community hub for the diverse communities it will serve.

The building is one of the few surviving works of Alfred Darbyshire (1839-1908), a local British architect of regional and national importance. The building is said to be “an inseparable part of Ordsall community’s tangible past which can offer excellent opportunities for the community’s culture and economic future; a source of local pride and identity and a reminder of Ordsall community’s culture and complexity”.

This exciting redevelopment will provide both economic and social impact to the area, whilst retaining the building’s heritage value.

Bernard Nwaiwu, Chair of CEDE Foundation quotes: “Thank you to the management and staff of The Architectural Heritage Fund for the support we have received, without which our project would not be happening”.

For more information click here.

Editor’s notes

1)    The Architectural Heritage Fund is a registered charity, working since 1976 to promote the conservation and sustainable re-use of historic buildings for the benefit of communities across the UK, particularly in economically disadvantaged areas. We are the only specialist heritage social investor in the UK. We provide advice, development grants and loans.

2)    Photos provided by CEDE Foundation.

3)    For media enquiries please contact Oliver Brodrick-Ward, on 020 79250199 / oliver.brodrick-ward@ahfund.org.uk