Hope Central - Elim Ryedale Church

A FORMER Saddler’s shop will be given a new lease of life when it opens as a religious, voluntary and social service next month.
Members of Elim Ryedale Church, which meets at Norton College, are putting the finishing touches to the transformation of the Old White Rose Saddlers in Castlegate, Malton.
More than £70,000 of church funds have been spent on the new outreach centre, called Hope Central which should be up and running in April.
It will offer a debt counseling service, marriage guidance, training and support as well as taking the church into schools and the wider community.
“In recent weeks there have been many rumors and much speculation in Malton and Norton as to what’s going on behind the blanked out windows of the old saddlers.” said David Riddington from the church.
“Last weekend we hosted an open day to put these far-fetched ideas to bed and let people know about the work we will be doing.
“Hope Central is part of the vision of Elim Ryedale Church inspired by the national campaign to encourage churches to do more, do it together and do it in word and deed.
“Our desire is that Hope Central will be more than a building and will become another resource to bring help and fresh hope to our community.”
The church has bought the last four years of the lease of the building from landlords, Fitzwilliam Estate.
And it is hoped that over the next few years the service will transform the lives of people in the community as well as supporting aid work abroad.
He added: “It’s been exciting to see the renovations come together over the last few months, with a real community effort involving many of the people who attend Elim Ryedale Church and their family and friends and also local tradesmen.
“We recognise that we can’t help everyone and aim to partner with many of the other great voluntary organisations in the town and help people access their resources and facilities.
“We are not expecting everyone to come to Hope Central, we want to go into the community.
“This may vary from helping someone decorate to leading school assemblies. We are currently building a skills database of those who are willing to give some of their time to help people with their particular skills, abilities and talents.
“We have also linked with Compassion to find sponsors for 50 children in Tanzania. Each child that is sponsored for just £18 a month is given the means to break the cycle of poverty and create a viable future.
“We know that the church can be viewed as a place that talks a lot but we want Hope Central to be a place that demonstrates we can ‘do’ as we ‘talk.”

Article written in the Gazette and Herald