Drumchapel church re-opens following £50k makeover

St Laurence's in Drumchapel raised around £50,000 in order to give a fresh look to their once 'poor-looking' chapel.

Jim Brown, 70, a parishioner at St Mary's in Duntocher even got involved with the project after visiting and finding it in bad condition.

St Laurence's before their renovations (Image: Supplied) He decided to use his knowledge from renovating St Mary's and give Father Barnes of St Laurence's and his congregation a hand in renewing theirs.

He said: "My grandchildren go to this church with my daughter and her husband.

"I was sitting in St Laurence’s last November looking around and I thought 'this is a poor-looking chapel.'

"It was desperately sad looking.

"I think anyone who goes to church, chapel, synagogue or whatever is entitled to a decent facility to fulfil their religious beliefs.

"I took Father Barnes aside and asked him what his plans were for the chapel and he said ‘Jim, I don't have any money. I don't have any volunteers. It's not been painted for 28 years.’

"I said 'Well, I'm volunteering and we'll raise the money.'"

The chapel before renovations take place (Image: Supplied) Before the renovations (Image: Supplied) Jim gathered a small group and began fundraising through Just Giving pages, hosting events and getting in touch with local businesses.

They raised £22,000 in donations and acquired additional funds after approaching the Archdiocese and discovering there was money due to them awaiting its use.

Then began eight months of repairs including five weeks of closure.

Jim added: "We went the whole hog. We had a number of repairs done that hadn't been done for a while and it took eight months.

"We completely repainted the internal chapel and the confessional boxes, added a new toilet and we recarpeted where appropriate. We had the altar completely revarnished and the statues all repainted.

"Externally, a number of repairs to stairs and plaster work took place.

"We painted the outside of the church which is now looking lovely and we had enough money to get the trees done.

"The trees on the east side were very high and they were not allowing the sun into your church, which meant you got a lot of dampness and most.

"It's been completely transformed."

The church underwent new flooring, roofing, complete rewiring, new fire doors, safety system and was painted from top to bottom.

(Image: Supplied)The chapel following renovations (Image: Supplied) (Image: Supplied) The church had its first mass in five weeks on Sunday, October 6 where a christening took place in the refreshed chapel.