Gainsborough Flooring pull businesses together to support local church

Gainsborough Flooring pull businesses together to support local church.

The Olive Grove Cafe in Central Methodist Church in the heart of Preston acts as a welcoming hub for the local community.

After nearly 30 years the cafe and foyer area have had new flooring installed thanks to the support and innovative thinking of local flooring specialists Gainsborough Flooring.

Julia Blacklett, Church Steward, was already familiar with Gainsborough Flooring as they’d previously replaced two carpets in the Church’s meeting room and One to One Listening Room about five years ago.

Always keen to ensure there is as little wastage as possible when installing flooring and trying to find creative ways of utilising any excess stock rather than it going to landfill, Vicky Brown from Gainsborough Flooring spoke to Julia and suggested collating excess stock of Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) including Amtico, Karndean and Polyflor from all the local flooring suppliers including Mears, David Hall Carpets, CFS and the Modern Flooring Company, and using it for their café and foyer. Once Gainsborough had collated the excess flooring and donated any extra that was required, it left the church to raise funds for the installation only.

Julia commented, “ We worked closely with Vicky from Gainsborough who gave us various options and prices for new flooring. The church then held a gift day to raise some money and at the open day the options were available to discuss  The idea of an eco floor where we could reuse flooring that would otherwise go to landfill was explained to those present.

The concept perfectly complements the church’s values, and as it would also save us money, it was the perfect solution.”

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Over coffee and cake at the Olive Grove Cafe the specific flooring requirements were discussed with Vicky and her brother Ed, and the gift day sealed the deal once the money was available.

They agreed that they required robust commercial flooring that was hard wearing for the busy coffee shop and church entrance, wanting a non-slip easy-clean surface, and of course for this to look great too as part of a total refurbishment that the church is planning.

The installation ran incredibly smoothly and the flooring looks absolutely stunning.

The church is over 200 years old with a long history of social action. The coffee shop is a welcoming hub for people to meet up and make friends, and new volunteers and customers are always welcome in the community cafe. With cinema style seating and refurbished meeting rooms there are lots of opportunities for community groups to meet and also enjoy the new coffee shop .

Currently the coffee shop is open on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10am -1pm, however, as they get busier they are looking to expand their opening hours.

Why not pop in for a coffee, volunteer and make some new friends?

The church is situated in the centre of Preston on Lune Street.

Central Methodist Church

Lune Street

Preston

PR1 2NL

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