The re-opening of the newly refurbished main auditoria at the former ‘The National’ in Kilburn, at the tune of nearly £1 million, raises interesting aspects regarding the operation and reasons behind such remarkable conservation work by the charity.
The overall refurbishment project includes, besides the main auditoria, works to the building’s façade, structural repairs and the redesigning of interior layouts to maximise usability. This will amount to around £2 million. And, it is not the amount spent on the listed building, but rather the circumstances of such enterprise that make for the first interesting aspect.
It is no secret that there are churches nationwide selling their buildings because they cannot afford them anymore, and others because their congregations no longer command the need for such large buildings. It is reported that at the Church of England alone, twenty church buildings are closed for worship every year – why then is this church spending millions in ample auditoria?
The main auditoria is simply astonishing and you can immediately see reasons from both architectural and heritage perspectives that justify the spending. But it is later; already deep into the re-opening service that the major driving force comes to the fore, and what a force that is!
Carol-Ann Kelly, a local Kilburn resident, was at one point a happy girl in her youth until the day she was coerced into marrying a man that she didn’t love. This was the first of her 3 bitter marriages that drove her to near destruction.
Carol told a short version of her story to the visitors at the re-opening ceremony emphasising that her third marriage made her a depressed soul as she suffered abuse at the hands of her husband. “After a while together he introduced me to speed and cocaine, I was soon addicted, I would take it daily to block out the disaster that I was living, the only thing is that I wasn’t living I was barely surviving.”
As she addresses the seating audience, it is clear she is taken back by the splendour of the refurbished auditoria and can’t help but pause to speak about the transformation of a hall she knew well before when it was used as an Irish pub and dancehall.
“It is very hard to believe that this is the same Irish dancehall that I used to sniff cocaine at and completely lose myself, it was an escape route for me simply because I was traumatized by my husband, depression wasn’t a sickness, it was my life, until the day I had lost the will to live. I decided that I was going to end it all.”
“I couldn’t take it anymore so I decided to put an end to it, just before the razor made contact with my wrists I gave God 10 minutes to convince me otherwise. I set a timer and in the ninth minute something happened. A newspaper fell through my door, a City News with a 24-hr helpline written in bold, I dropped the razor and phoned that number straight away, I was told I could speak in person to an advisor at a nearby HelpCentre.”
Without hesitation and only a coat covering her pyjamas Carol ran to the same place where she had been doing drugs for many years before but this time it wasn’t for drugs as the Irish dancehall had now become a UCKG HelpCentre.
“I arrived there on a Saturday at 2.10pm, that was eight years ago, and just let out all my anguish with tears, years of disappointment, I thought the advisor would hug me and even cry with me instead he listened patiently and then spoke with certainty as he instilled in me hope that my life could change and you know what I believed it and it did.”
At this point, you looked around and there was not a dry eye in the house, and many sobbed. It was like a confirmation that Carol wasn’t alone. She certainly wasn’t alone in her suffering as there were many seating there exactly because they need the kind of help and assistance she received. But she was also not alone as there were many that shared a similar transformation. They had been at breaking point until they found a HelpCentre just like that in Kilburn where they turned it all around.
How much is a life worth? How much more are many lives worth? How insignificant it then becomes the amount spent on this refurbishment – a national treasure saved for another 100 years and lives, scores of them by the looks of it, rescued and awarded a new lease for eternity.
This is no regular church though, and dare I say, not everyone’s cup of tea either. They drop newspapers with good news through people’s letter boxes. They are aggressive in seeking those that are in suffering, irrespective of background. They are not afraid of telling you as it is, and backing their words with works. Are open on a daily basis like a spiritual emergency room, free of charge. This is more than a fitting use for a national treasure.
