Bowling for Jesus
From a Dairy Factory to a Bowling Ally and gospel hub, Towy Community Church has been feeding families and transforming lives since 2001.
Towy Community Church has been transforming lives in Carmarthenshire since 2001. From feeding families to providing debt advice, their heart is to share the love of God. Fundraiser, Siân Wood comments, “Our vision is that people come to know the love of Jesus through the projects the church is running.”
An unusual opportunity
Having initially met in a school hall, an opportunity to acquire a disused dairy factory, on a 2.7 acre site, became available in 2010. The church also discovered that the council were seeking an organisation who would develop and run a bowling alley for the benefit of local young people, for whom there was a lack of facilities.
The church agreed to take on this project. Their vision was to use the same site to host church services, a local Foodbank, a recycled furniture centre for those on low incomes, debt advice services and provide volunteering opportunities to boost self-esteem among young people. While the church accounts are kept separate from the money earned by the project, all the social projects have been part-funded by proceeds from the bowling alley.
Mounting Complexities
The church’s ‘Xcel site’ was developed. However, multiple loans were required to sustain the projects through the Covid-19 pandemic. This made cash flow complex and applying for grants and funding challenging. These outreach projects had been a lifeline to the community, both for the services offered and jobs they provided, but redundancies loomed, and closure seemed inevitable.
Simplifying with a Kingdom Bank mortgage
Faced with an uncertain future, the church turned to Kingdom Bank. By consolidating their loans into a single mortgage, they were able to breathe again, freeing up resources to focus on what mattered most: serving their community. Siân comments, “In the latter part of 2024, Community Money Advice managed around £650k, and wrote off over £100k worth of debt for individuals and families in Carmarthen.” Siân continues, “We are so thankful to Christians who save with Kingdom Bank. You have helped initiatives like this. You provide homes, food and hope. You have created job security for those working in our projects. You’ve enabled us to serve our community and demonstrate the love of Jesus. Thank you.”