A BASINGSTOKE church has launched a £350,000 fundraising campaign in a bid to expand its premises and strengthen its support for the local community.

Buckskin Evangelical Church (BEC), which has been based in the Buckskin area since the late 1960s, is looking to raise the funds after getting the go-ahead from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to build an extension to the existing church building.

To raise funds for the appeal, a fundraising dinner will be held at the Holiday Inn, in Basingstoke on Saturday, May 9.

Tickets for the event, which features a three-course dinner plus entertainment, are £30 per person. There will be a prize draw – in which everyone who takes part will be a winner – with prizes donated by various companies in Basingstoke.

Grandmother-of-six Shirley Duncombe, a member of the church, in Chiltern Way, said: “The church is very involved in helping, and supporting, the local community.

“As well as a range of services, our pastor Will Ross visits the local primary school weekly, we run a weekly coffee morning, Stepping Stones meets at the church on a Wednesday morning and offers activities for parents and carers and their pre-school children, and we run weekly house groups in various homes around Basingstoke.

“With the different projects that we are involved in, we have run out of space. The annexe will help us to serve and support more people in the local community over the coming years.”

The extension would include four classrooms, a new crèche and meeting rooms for activities held during the week.

Mrs Duncombe added: “We are now hoping that local people will support our fundraising campaign, which will start in earnest with the event on May 9.”

Tickets and further information about the fundraising dinner can be obtained from Mrs Duncombe by emailing shirleyduncombe@btinternet.com.

Alternatively, contact the church office from Monday to Friday on 01256 355363, and if you want to find out more about what the church does, go to buckskin.org.uk.