Liverpool-based charity Kids in Need and Distress (KIND) has submitted plans to restore the former Welsh Presbyterian Church in Toxteth.

Working with OMI Architects and the Merseyside Building Preservation Trust (MBPT), KIND wants to transform the church, and its associated Sunday School buildings, into a “thriving centre for inspirational learning based upon environmental principles”.

Currently located at the SEED Centre on nearby Back Canning Street, KIND has provided services which enhance the well-being and life chances of children and their families from across Merseyside since 1975.

The ambitious project to redevelop the Welsh Church, which is on the Heritage at Risk Register, will provide a platform for the charity to “greatly enhance and expand” its services.

Once complete, the new site will house a variety of flexible multi-purpose spaces, a roof garden, cafe, all-weather play area and much more.

A document included alongside the planning application for the project reads: “This project represents the best opportunity to save a building that, if left untouched, would surely fall further into dereliction, beyond the point of restoration into that of ruination.

“The aspiration is that through the continuation, and expansion of the work with the young people of Liverpool KIND has provided for the last 45 years, the original story of the Welsh Church can be revived and retold to serve the needs of the 21st Century Toxteth residents. Becoming not another emblem of decline and lost heritage, instead a celebrated asset ingrained in the local community with a regional presence on the Liverpool skyline.

“The exciting landscape proposals will create an urban oasis which blurs the lines between the architecture and the integration of low carbon environmental measures – combining in a proposal that will deliver a building capable of adapting and ensuring the future of the Welsh Presbyterian Church for generations to come.”

All images © OMI Architects

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