In a day and age when we frequently hear that clergy are looking for new ideas to bring people into church in the face of falling congregations, it is heartening to hear that a Bradford church project is enjoying considerable success.

More than £2 million has been spent on a new community centre on the site of St Margaret's Church in Thornbury, Bradford, which had to be demolished because of structural defects.

And, if the first 12 months of its life are anything to go by, it has been money well spent by a partnership which involved, among others, the church, English Partnerships and the European Regional Development Fund.

Now a national church conference is to be held at the centre.

Delegates at the conference will hear how, thanks to the extensive facilities, including a family-and-children project, library, caf and training and creche accommodation, a strong relationship has been built up between the centre and the local community.

The centre is thriving, with people from all sections of the community using it, and, since it opened, church attendance figures have increased slightly too.

It is wonderful to hear that a project which has proved so important to one Bradford community is being held up as a national example of regeneration.

The people behind it can feel rightly proud if their example is used as an inspiration and a springboard for work elsewhere in the country, and, perhaps, even closer to home in Bradford and district.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.