THE NEW Life Church in Cardigan has finally taken over the former Co-op supermarket site on Quay Street.

The New life Christian Centre – which runs the town’s foodbank - is currently based at a site further up Quay Street but is fast running out of space due to increasing demand on its services.

It submitted plans to Ceredigion Council earlier this year to take over the disused building and now after more than six months of negotiations, it has finally got the green light to move in.

Extensive internal work will now be carried out at the site, which has stood empty since March last year when Budgens, which had taken over the running of the store when the Co-op closed in May 2016, closed its doors for the final time.

The church’s current centre is open seven days a week and more than 500 people use the present facility each week and it is hoped those numbers will rise significantly with extra space and the opportunity for parking outside which the new building affords.

“The foodbank last year fed over 1,200 people and this year to date has seen an increase on this by 30 per cent,” said manager Alan Faunch.

“The food is stored in the loft space in our present building and it has to be carried up and down the stairs. At present there is over two tonnes of food in storage and one week before Christmas one tonne of food was given away in two days.

“We have run out of space in our current facility and are having to store some of the food in a container we pay rent for each month.”

As part of the planned changes to the new building, the church will develop a social/meeting area, open to the community for people to meet, including a coffee bar and a soft play area for young children.

Refreshments will be available at either low or no cost, removing the barrier of cost to those wanting to get out and meet and socialise.

There will be rooms for crafts, home educated families, Welsh language classes, youth meetings, Kidz Club, small group meetings, prayer rooms, healing rooms, counselling rooms and administrative offices.

A proper commercial grade kitchen will enable more community meals to be provided on site, while other partners/agencies could use the rooms.

There are also plans further down the line to develop an all-weather, all age, all ability, family/community, virtual reality sports facility.

At present, five staff work 30 hours a week and one 16 hours. It is hoped to create two more full-time jobs and two part-time.

“We believe that as we take on this building, it will bring a new vibrancy into this area,” added Alan.

“These new projects, which will be run from these premises, will attract a lot of new people to this area of the town.”

It is hoped the new building will start to come into use early in the new year, with the Furniture Project on Queen's Terrace moving to the old Quay Street site.