St Mary's Access and Green Spaces Project
Page last updated: July 2026
PHASE ONE COMPLETED
In just over a year we managed to fully fundraise and complete Phase One. A huge thank you to everyone who has supported this project. Our church and hall users are delighted with the results and it is such a joy to finally have an accessible building and outdoor spaces. In phase one we delivered:
New enclosed play area; level access to all spaces; electronic opening glazed main entrance; wheelchair access to community quiet and kitchen gardens, cleared space to front of church, new planters and relocated notice board.
We are incredibly grateful to grant funders who are supported this project and donations from private individuals, many of which have been given in memory and whose names we will display within the garden.
We have received grants from: Diocese of St Albans Mission Initiative Grant; The Community Fund; Hobson Charity; 
Beatrice Laing Trust; Garfield Weston
PHASE TWO fundraising has begun!
Phase two sees the development of our Village Green area, connecting the Church's green spaces to the Quadrant. We're really excited about this phase which is going to be a wonderful addition to Marshalswick community life.
Phase two will see: creation of a 'village green' area to the South side (Marshalswick Lane side) of church, including hard standing for community events on both the South and East (front) sides; visual connection to the Quadrant shopping area, seating for the community, accessible access to the church through the South side doors with levelled access and electronic opening doors to match the North side; and new planting.
Phase two also includes work inside St Mary's Church, with the installation of infrared heating and new chairs within the main church space to enable year round access for events, concerts, talks and a wide variety of community activity.
Phase Two Costs
External Works to grounds, including hardstanding, landscaping, planting and new noticeboard: £40,580
New electronic opening, glazed, doors to South Side entrance: £18,210
Electrical panel heating system: £10,200
80 stackable chairs, including 20 with arms: £9,521
Total Phase Two Fundraising Target: £78,511
Aims of the Access and Green Spaces Project
1. Improve Accessibility
with accessible, electronic opening, glazed doors; level access, into the building and gardens; and wheelchair accessible garden spaces and furniture.
2. Widen Use
through the provision of an enclosed garden space; enlarging our quiet garden area for community use, planting a wild garden area, and creating a new ‘village green’ open space for daily use by the community and for larger events.
3. Increase Visibilityby effective landscaping, the use of glazed doors, and improved signage.
Phases and Total Costings
The total cost for the whole project is anticipated to be £211,000, which we have broken down into phases to focus our fundraising and our work.
PHASE ONE: £45,784 (FULLY FUNDED)
Green Space and Doors: Enclosed, play area; improved quiet garden; level access to all spaces; electronic opening glazed main entrance; and wheelchair access to community quiet and kitchen gardens. Fully funded!
PHASE TWO: £75,822
Village Green: Open space on the South side of the church, with furniture, planting and hard standing for access and community events, electronic glazed doors with level access, new electric panel heating system and chairs.
PHASE THREE: £79,250
Car park and pedestrian access: Redesigned car park and pedestrian access to North side main entrance.
How you could help
We are looking for donations or both finance and skills. If you have gardening and/or landscaping skills, we’d love to hear from you – whether to help us in the planning stages or perhaps to help with maintenance. Monetary donations of all sizes are gratefully received; from smaller amounts that will help us with planting our wild garden and the new planters, to larger amounts that can be designated to particular aspects of the project. Donors can be recognised on a dedication plaque, either with their own name, an organisation name, or in memory of a loved one. We would love to hear from anyone able to offer support to this project; please get in touch.
Feedback
We're really grateful to everyone who gave feedback - groups and individuals. We want to keep receiving feedback all through the life of this project; please get in touch with any ideas, questions or concerns.
Page updated: July 2026